- Legitly was formed through clipping and derivation. First, legitimately was clipped to legit, which permeated the everyday speech of high school students. Legit was then formed into legitly by adding ly in derivation. The neologism is between legit and legitimately. It is shorter than legitimately and therefore easier to say, but not as common as legit, so it causes people to think more about what you are saying because they are not used to hearing the word. It is also a different part of speech than legit, which is generally used as an adjective, although sometimes it is used as an adverb. The term is used to describe and action that was done with great skill, or in a “legit” manner. The speaker coined the term to ease confusion between the different forms of legit. She also felt that legit was too overused and wanted to create a new word in an attempt to form a new “in crowd”. This word is currently just associated with high school students in St. Louis, Missouri, although it is starting to spread to other people in that age group around the country.
legitly
clipping; derivation; adverb
describes an action that was done legitimately, with great skill or within the rules
Etymology : Legitimately: from Latin legitimus meaning lawful Legit: clipping of legitimately meaning something that is done with great skill
Source : “She legitly scored a 100% on that test” (friend, 11/26/08)
Last modified: 4 December 2008