thusly

English

Etymology

From thus +‎ -ly, dating from the 19th century, seemingly coined by educated writers to make fun of uneducated persons trying to sound genteel, with a false inference that thus is not an adverb.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈðʌs.li/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adverb

thusly (not comparable) (proscribed)

1. thus (in this way).
   • 1865, Hingston, editor, Artemus Ward (His Travels) Among the Mormons:

     Ar, tell me it is not so thusly as this thusness wouldst seem!

   • 1866, Petroleum V. Nasby, Life of Androo Johnson:

     His course can only be akkounted for thusly:

   • 1866, Harper's Magazine:

     He had an attack of catarrh not long ago, and it happened, as J. Billings would say, "thusly:"

   • 1893, Isabel Burton, The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton KCMG, FRGS, volume II:

     Stories never lose anything in the recital, and consequently this one grew thusly.

   • 1995 December, John P. Wiley Jr, quoting Edward R. Harrison, Smithsonian Magazine:

     The history of the Universe has been summed up thusly: "Hydrogen is a light, odorless gas, which, given enough time, turns into people."

   • 1996, Charles Harding, High Rise Dwelling‎^[1]:

     Going thusly, unwillingly at the bell,
     Answering the call to recycle my time.

2. thus (therefore)
   • 1976 August 21, Calvin Keach, quotee, “Leavenworth, Again”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 8, page 2:

     Lately, they [the prison authorities] came up with a new excuse. Seems like they consider owning a Gay publication is an expression of a person's sexuality and would thusly identify the person as a homosexual which would then subject him to assault or pressures.

Usage notes

Although thusly has diffused into popular usage, it may be regarded as incorrect by some; instead, other equivalent expressions (such as thus or this way) can be used. It originated in the Eastern U.S., and it is still more common in American than British English; it is "often used for amusement or to make an ironic point."

References

• “thusly”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• (thusly*1000), thus at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.

Anagrams

• Luthys, hustly