word choice - Shall I use 'thus' or 'thusly'?



Which is correct?



...others are compensated thus.


...others are compensated thusly.



This page says 'thusly' is incorrect: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/thusly However without the 'ly' is sounds wrong.


This page on adverbs didn't mention adverbs at the end of a sentence as being wrong. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adverbs.htm


It provides some examples:



A viewpoint adverb generally comes after a noun and is related to an adjective that precedes that noun:


A successful athletic team is often a good team scholastically.



I just think '...a good team scholastical' would be wrong. Why is 'thus' different?


This related question also says 'thus' over 'thusly', but the word was not at the end of a sentence. "Thus" vs. "Thusly"



Answer



The suffix -ly is used to form adverbs out of words that aren't already adverbs. "Thus" is already an adverb. There is no word "thusly." "Thusly" is sometimes used as a joke to indicate that the speaker is pretending to adopt a fancy style of speech and using a word that doesn't exist. A similar joke-word is "bestest;" "best" is already the superlative, so it doesn't need another "-est."


The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language says:



Thusly is occasionally employed humorously, for mock-stylish effects. Otherwise, as a variant of thus (itself an adverb), thusly is termed unacceptable by 97 per cent of the Usage Panel.



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