thusly
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
thus + -ly, dating from the 19th century, seemingly coined by educated writers to make fun of uneducated persons trying to sound genteel,[1] with a false inference that thus is not an adverb.
Pronunciation[edit]
- (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈðʌs.li/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Adverb[edit]
thusly (not comparable)
- (proscribed) thus (in this way).
- 1865, Hingston, editor, Artemus Ward (His Travels) Among the Mormons:
- Ar, tell me it is not so thusly as this thusness wouldst seem!
- 1866, Petroleum V. Nasby, Life of Androo Johnson:
- His course can only be akkounted for thusly:
- 1866, Harper's Magazine:
- He had an attack of catarrh not long ago, and it happened, as J. Billings would say, "thusly:"
- 1893, Isabel Burton, The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton KCMG, FRGS, volume II:
- Stories never lose anything in the recital, and consequently this one grew thusly.
- 1995 December, John P. Wiley Jr, quoting Edward R. Harrison, Smithsonian Magazine:
- The history of the Universe has been summed up thusly: "Hydrogen is a light, odorless gas, which, given enough time, turns into people."
- 1996, Charles Harding, High Rise Dwelling[1]:
- Going thusly, unwillingly at the bell,
Answering the call to recycle my time.
- (proscribed) thus (therefore)
- 1976 August 21, Calvin Keach, quotee, “Leavenworth, Again”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 8, page 2:
- Lately, they [the prison authorities] came up with a new excuse. Seems like they consider owning a Gay publication is an expression of a person's sexuality and would thusly identify the person as a homosexual which would then subject him to assault or pressures.
Usage notes[edit]
Although thusly has diffused into popular usage, it may be regarded as incorrect by some; instead, other equivalent expressions (such as thus or this way) can be used.[1] It originated in the Eastern U.S., and it is still more common in American than British English; it is "often used for amusement or to make an ironic point."[2]
References[edit]
- “thusly”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- (thusly*1000), thus at Google Ngram Viewer
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edition (Accessed 2012-01-13)
- ^ Pam Peters, The Cambridge Guide to English Usage (2003).