In Defense of the Beautiful American Solecism "Hopefully"

I'm still enough of a curmudgeon about faulty grammar, that I wouldn't use it in formal writing. But "hopefully," used conversationally with the intention of meaning "it is to be hoped that," strikes me just right. It's like hitting a nail on the head with enough force to drive it straight home.

When I wrote that "hopefully," the squirrel recovered, I meant that I had reason to hope that she got well. But what the words really said was that she recovered and was hopeful during the process. Now, what idiot would project human emotions onto an innocent wild creature?

Of course I didn't mean what the words said. That's like saying I placed a candle on either end of the table; can't you see me running from one end of the table to the other, trying to decide which end to set the candle on? And that brings up ending a sentence with a preposition. Damn.

Anyway, as a speaker, I endorse the word "hopefully." As a writer, I eschew it with all diligence. Except when writing dialogue.