In the last week, I've heard the word "thusly" about a dozen times, and it gives me minor hives. There are few grammatical issues that bother me more than archaic speech delivered incorrectly.

So, let's start off with the word "thus." Thus is an adverb meaning "in this way," or "as a result of." I understand that it is not commonly used in modern English, so, I forgive anyone who avoids its use altogether. There are many times when "thus" is the perfect word for a certain context, particularly since it is so concise. But, much like "whence," it has fallen out of favor, and the common solution is to use several words in place of that single word used by our ancestors.

Here are some examples:

Daylight savings time has been recently adjusted, thus rendering useless the automatic features of my VCR.

In this example, "thus" is nearly synonymous with another word considered archaic, namely "thereby."

Another sense of "thus" is used as a signifier when acting out an action physically, as an example:

We could tell the suspect had been injured, as he was walking thus, with a pronounced limp, as demonstrated by Inspector Smith.

Yet another usage allows "thus" to replace a long series of words, or even sentences, demonstratively.

After the daring rescue, the men were lauded and celebrated by all who knew them. All heroes should be treated thus.

This brings us, of course, to "thusly," which, although gaining in acceptance, is a word that I simply can't stomach.

Simply put, "thusly" is an incorrect synthetic word, with which an adverb is made even more adverbial. Many adverbs do not end in "-ly" or "-ily" and it's important to recognize that "thus" is one of them. As a result, "thusly" is no more necessary than "fastly," "straightly," or "wellily."

As for "whence," we can save that for another time.