This is not actually a technology post, but a post by the writer part of me. It has to deal with a word that’s misused way, way too much by bloggers and in forums all over the Internet.

The word is actually. Here’s what it means according to my handy Dictionary program:

In practice, amateur writers on the Internet use it as an emphasis word. It’s use is often completely unnecessary to the context of what’s being written.

I find the most offensive examples on the Internet Movie Database site, in the Trivia or Goofs sections for various films. Films like Titanic, where you can find “actually” misused many times. Such as:

The staircase is not actually technically accurate being slightly larger in the film than it was in real life. This is because people in 1997 were actually a bit taller than in 1912 so they would have looked out of place on a staircase that fit the correct dimensions.

The word actually is used twice above. The first time is improper as it doesn’t really add any emphasis to “technically accurate.” The second time it’s used is okay to add emphasis, just like the word “really.”

Indeed: A good gauge of whether actually is used for emphasis properly is to replace it with the word really:

The staircase is not really technically accurate being slightly larger in the film than it was in real life. This is because people in 1997 were really a bit taller than in 1912 so they would have looked out of place on a staircase that fit the correct dimensions.

See? The first really doesn’t improve upon “technically” whereas the second really fits in better.

Here’s another one that irks me from Titanic trivia:

In the scene of Rose looking through the corridors for Jack, the water used was actually from the Pacific Ocean at the Baja California, Mexico set. The water was so cold that when Rose gasps when she first dives into the water, it was actually Kate Winslet’s genuine reaction to the frigid ocean.

Above, the word actually doesn’t add anything, not even emphasis. Reading quips like that on the IMDb really drives me bonkers.

Ugh. Yet, they’re not all bad. This following comment demonstrates a good use of the word actually:

James Cameron went on the dives to the real Titanic himself, and found it an overwhelming emotional experience to actually see it.

And:

In the scenes portraying the ship at the Southampton dock, all shots were reversed to give the appearance of the port side of the ship, as it was actually docked in 1912.

Then:

They actually died on the Titanic in real life.

Ugh. Actually died? Really died? Nope, in the context of this quote, the people were dead either way.

Okay. Pet peeve be gone!

I’d enjoy hearing from an English teacher or copy editor to tell me that I’m being overly-obsessive.