NEW YORK (WPIX/CNN) - A New York City bar called Continental is banning the use of a particular word, and it’s not your typical offensive word.
"Sorry, but if you say the word 'literally' inside Continental, you have five minutes to finish your drink and then you must leave. If you actually start a sentence with 'literally' you must leave immediately."
Those downing six shots for $12, like two Wall Street Journal reporters, were amused.
"I am pretty sure every time I've used it in copy, it's been edited out. I think it's because I'm a millennial and I just use it literally way too much. Literally," Lillian Rizzo said.
"So, I was a little concerned if they heard me that they would ask me to leave but nobody has so far and I've said it at least two times," Michael Wursthorn said.
Continental, a decades-old neighborhood dive and former music venue is filled with lots of curmudgeonly signs.
For example: "No Kardashianism," "No tap water because we're running out of plastic cups," "This is not a public place so we can throw anyone out," and "The customer is always wrong."
The owner, a real New York character named Trigger Smith, is on a two-week meditation and silence retreat but he texted WPIX a comment:
"My ban is tongue in cheek. It's fake news. I'm just trying to shake things up a little and possibly enlighten people to be a little more respectful of the English language. We are not Literally throwing people out. Yet! :)"
Continental is set to close for good on June 30 because the building will be torn down for redevelopment.
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