The Level Up English Podcast (Natural British English) #343 When 'Terrific' Meant 'Terrifying'
Sep 24, 2025
Explore the fascinating evolution of words with unexpected meanings! Discover how 'terrific' once meant terrifying and 'awful' shifted from awe to very bad. Learn about 'wicked' going from evil to cool and 'fond' transforming from foolishness to affection. Delve into the surprising journey of 'gay' from happiness to a sexual identity and see how 'literally' changed from exact to emphatic use. Get ready for a word adventure that reveals the meanings we often take for granted!
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Carefree House-Sitting Phase
- Michael describes a carefree period house-sitting with few possessions and teaching from a laptop.
- He uses this to personify the old sense of "gay" as carefree and happy.
Literally Is Shifting Right Now
- "Literally" still officially means "exactly" but is increasingly used for emphatic, non-literal exaggeration.
- Michael highlights this ongoing shift and asks listeners to notice which sense is intended.
Airport Nail-Clipping Incident
- Michael shares seeing someone cut nails in an airport and calls it egregious, illustrating the modern negative sense.
- He also humorously notes he accidentally used "literally" in its original sense when describing nails falling.