The Word ‘Hopefully’ Is Here To Stay, Hopefully
2nd June 2012
William Safire once described the “hopefully” rule as the litmus test that separated the language snobs from the language slobs.
But the fixation with “hopefully” is different from those others. For one thing, the word itself is so utterly inconsequential — is that the best you’ve got? And then there’s no rational justification for condemning it. Some critics object that it’s a free-floating modifier (a Flying Dutchman adverb, James Kirkpatrick called it) that isn’t attached to the verb of the sentence but rather describes the speaker’s attitude. But floating modifiers are mother’s milk to English grammar — nobody objects to using “sadly,” “mercifully,” “thankfully” or “frankly” in exactly the same way.