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Comment by lapsis_beeftech | Hacker News Reader

Sun protection factor 7 is quite a lot; it means only one seventh of the UV rays reach the skin, which is less than 15 percent.

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Thanks for this factoid. I didn't know that the SPF is literally a ratio. Thanks!

'factoid' means that something is fact-like, not that it is a tiny fact. Assuming of course one cares about linguistic precision. If you're the kind of person who uses 'literally' to mean 'figuratively' then you can ignore this, I make no value judgement.

To be both precise and accurate, factoid also means a brief / tiny bit of trivia.

Personally, I seldom (if ever) hear it used how you’re describing.

Yes, in the same way that 'literally' also means 'figuratively', which is to say that colloquial usage of the word is incorrect as regards it's intended meaning.

Whether or not that is a useful distinction is subjective.

“Literally” has been used figuratively for hundreds of years and is more akin to hyperbole than additional definitions like we see with factoid.

I think it’s fair to say that hardlining a correct vs. incorrect distinction with how literally is used today is mostly pointless.

I disagree. By surrendering the meaning of words we lose the ability to communicate precisely. That may well always be a losing battle, linguistic evolution being what it is, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth resisting.

You might be bummed to learn about hyperbole, then. Or anthropomorphisms. Or similes.

I guess a silver lining (not literally, of course) is that you're at least aware of the difficulties - good luck!

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