NYC Bar Boots Out People Who Use The Word 'Literally'

Aren't people who overuse the word 'literally' the worst? If your mate told you they'd 'literally' wet themselves at a joke, you'd probably want to step back a few steps to avoid the whiff. It's literally infuriating.

One bar in New York clearly agrees, as it has put up a sign to tell punters that they have to leave the bar if they use the word 'literally' at any point. Harsh but fair.

The new policy, put up by Continental in the East Village of New York City, will no doubt be controversial. Then again, people who are passionate about speaking English correctly will probably be delighted.

According to Continental's policy, people who use the word 'literally' while in the bar have five minutes to drink up and get on their way. People starting a sentence with 'I literally' will get booted out immediately.

The policy- probably aimed at the bar's student clientele who flock there due to its punk history and cheap booze - was spotted by musician Eden Brower who posted a picture of the sign to Twitter.

Cheekily, Eden said of the policy: "I literally can't believe this." That's you out then, Eden.

"This is the most overused, annoying word in the English language and we will not tolerate it," the sign reads.

You might not be surprised to hear that this isn't the first time the owners of Continental have put their foot down about what their visitors can or can't do.

The bar's got a rather strict dress code too, with its bouncers turning away people wearing baggy pants ('mostly minorities', it adds), 'Jersey shore meatheads' and even some women that dress 'gangsta style'. Isn't that, um, a bit racist?

PA

The bar's owner Trigger Smith doesn't think so - the bar's website has a rather long blog post explaining the policy, also making three references to court documents which ruled that the bar isn't breaking human rights. That's reassuring, then.

"If you have a problem with that open up your own bar with no dress code or door policy and see how long it lasts," Trigger wrote. "That crowd will alienate and scare away your mainstream crowd until that's all you have left."

Compared to their door policy, then, the bar's clamp down on the word 'literally' actually seems pretty reasonable. Sadly the bar's set to close in June this year as it's going to be knocked down for a boutique office building, so the policy won't be in place for very long.

Hopefully the bar's new policy doesn't put punters off too much. Otherwise they'll literally have no customers left.

Topics: Viral, New York, Community

Chris Ogden

Chris Ogden is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from the University of East Anglia with degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing before completing his NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism. Chris has previously written for the independent culture magazine The Skinny, among other publications.

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