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by subLimb 5286 days ago
Maybe technically, but the word doesn't really add anything to the statement if someone uses it anytime they didn't observe what happened. Supposedly is akin to saying "Assuming what this person said is true, ..." which in many cases implies doubt (why not just say "so and so said she went into town").

I think his point was that it makes literal sense, but it doesn't help the process of communication, which is why he's torn on the issue.
1 comments
Splines 5285 days ago
I think his point was that it makes literal sense, but it doesn't help the process of communication

I think it does help - it implies that there is doubt (and possibly some lying involved with what's going on).

Simply stating "so and so said she went into town" is factual (although emphasizing "said" can also imply the same things that using "supposedly" does).

However, if the top-level-commenter's GF is using "supposedly" not in this way, I'd agree that'd be annoying. Maybe she's the mistrustful sort?

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noahc 5285 days ago
As a point of clarification she uses it in this sense:

"Supposedly, Aunt Sue is coming down this weekend"

What she means is "My mom said, "Aunt Sue is coming down this weekend"

What I interpret this to mean is "Aunt Sue says she is coming down this weekend. But, She's so flakey we shouldn't plan anything around her"

The but could really be anything, and it all depends on context, shared knowledge of the situation or person we're talking about.

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