Literally
I hate it when people use the word literally incorrectly. Because when you get it wrong, you end up using it in exactly the opposite way from which it is intended. I can see a mix up between ultimate and penultimate, you're off by one. But literally is an entirely different animal.
It drives me crazy when I'm watching a football game and I hear the announcer say, "He literally ripped his head off!"
No he didn't.
"He literally exploded through the hole in that line!"
What?!
He exploded?
This guy should not have a job on tv describing things to people.
Or that conversation with your friends:
"Dude, last night we were so wasted, when Jim squirted milk through his eye, I literally shit my pants it was so funny"
Wow! What did you do then?
"With what?"
Your pants, what did you do with your pants?
"What do you mean?"
After you shit in them, what did you do?
"Dude, I didn't really shit my pants. I literally shit my pants."
It drives me crazy when I'm watching a football game and I hear the announcer say, "He literally ripped his head off!"
No he didn't.
"He literally exploded through the hole in that line!"
What?!
He exploded?
This guy should not have a job on tv describing things to people.
Or that conversation with your friends:
"Dude, last night we were so wasted, when Jim squirted milk through his eye, I literally shit my pants it was so funny"
Wow! What did you do then?
"With what?"
Your pants, what did you do with your pants?
"What do you mean?"
After you shit in them, what did you do?
"Dude, I didn't really shit my pants. I literally shit my pants."
posted by Mike at 10:31 AM
5 Comments:
I totally agree with you. My husband hates it when the media uses that word.
Great, another thing to fixate on and get annoyed by. You are correct. People misuse this word all the time in just the way you described. It's so prevalent that in 10 more years we may see an entry in the OED explaining how literally, in common use, actually means figuratively.
I literally do not know what to say. :)
So.... do you really know what to say or not? Now I am confused. Maybe we should all learn Spanish 'cuz English is stoopid.
¡Necesito literalmente aprender español!
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