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Why This East Village Bar Has A Ban On The Word 'Literally'

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

OK, bear with us here for a minute. A linguist walks into a bar. He goes up to the bartender, and he says, would you literally throw me out of this bar for using the word literally?

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

(Laughter) Well, if the bartender is Trigger Smith, the owner of the Continental in Manhattan's East Village, he could say, look; I literally warned you because he literally has posted that warning on the front door of the bar this week. It reads in part...

SHAPIRO: Quote, "sorry, but if you say the word literally inside Continental, you have five minutes to finish your drink, and then you must leave."

TRIGGER SMITH: I had a dream, and it felt like a higher power was speaking to me, saying that it is your task to put an end to the over-usage of this word.

KELLY: Trigger Smith - he says he is just sick and tired of hearing it everywhere every day, hyperbolically speaking. And he thinks he knows why it's everywhere.

SMITH: Lots of words and expressions have caught on, but there's something about this word, literally, that - I think it feels good to say, like a mantra.

KELLY: Well, Smith is the one getting kicked out soon. The building has been sold. They're knocking it down. It's going to be replaced by an office building. In the meantime, Smith will continue to serve drinks and fight the overuse of the word he hates so much.

SMITH: Literally my new career. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.