I was talking to my wife the other day and she pointed out to me that people have a tendency to misuse the word literally. I thought about it for a second and realized that she was really on to something. Since that point, I must have heard a dozen people use it out of context. There seems to be a growing group of people that use "literally" in situations where they really mean "figuratively". I'll give you a few examples below. Let's go through the exercise for fun.
Definition of Literally - not figurative; accurate to the letter; matter of fact or concrete.
So when a colleague or friend says to you that someone was:
"Literally killing them"; or
"Literally burning with rage"; or
someone at the gym was "literally running 100 miles an hour" beside them.
You might not even bat an eyelash. However, let's deconstruct these statements:
1. If someone were "literally" killing your friend, they should at a minimum be showcasing a major wound and a police report would likely have been filed at some point.
2. If someone was "literally" burning with rage, at a minimum I would assume that they would have a reality TV show on VH1 by now.
3. If someone at the gym was "literally" running 100 mph, they would be 4 times faster than Usain Bolt and I believe one of the fastest mammals on earth (fact check).
Although these are all blatant misuses of the word, perhaps the most outrageous example came from the late Jerry Falwell who said (and I quote):
"Someone must not be afraid to say, ‘moral perversion is wrong.’ If we
do not act now, homosexuals will own America! If you and I do not speak
up now, this homosexual steamroller will literally crush all decent men, women, and children who get in its way … and our nation will pay a terrible price!”
I must thank the guys at http://literally.barelyfitz.com/ for the last example. They feel strongly enough about this subject that they publish a blog dedicated to the misuse of the word. It's a pretty funny read, if you have the time.
So I'm "literally" going to stop writing this blog now...
