Day 6 - Literally

According to my mother, I've been correcting people's grammar since I was three years old.  I completely believe that to be true.  Eventually, I made a real effort not to do that because at some point, I figured I'd want to stop running off my dates.  But there are still some misused and overused words that get under my skin.  The word 'literally' is at the top of this list (not literally) and it is both misused and overused.  Today I heard it misused by a news anchorman.  That’s just adding insult to injury, in my opinion.  There are enough problems with our media already without  adding lack of grammar to the mix. 

First, let me explain how it should be used for those of you who aren't sure because believe me, there are a lot of you out there.  The word means that what you are saying is without exaggeration or inaccuracy.  Therefore, you may want to use it when what you are saying may sound far-fetched.  For example, if an athletic person was telling the story of how he was in a hurry and ran a mile home in seven minutes, people would believe he did that without further clarification.  If I were to tell the same story, I would have to qualify that 7 minutes with ‘literally’.

You can also use it for clarification when it is possible that the sentence that you are using might easily be taken figuratively.  For example, if you were to say, “I stole her heart,” most of us would assume you meant that she fell in love with you.  If what you really meant was that you have her heart in a decorative box on your mantle, you would clarify that by using ‘literally’.

Literally is not a word which conveys emphasis on an exaggeration.  “He was literally 30 feet tall.”  No he wasn’t.  I know he wasn’t.  What I DON’T know is anything you said after that because I’m still stuck on that sentence trying to figure out if YOU know it.

It also does not need to be used when it is obvious that you are being literal.  “I am literally exhausted.”  I know what exhausted means.  Everyone knows what exhausted means.  There is no figurative translation of exhausted.  The word you are looking for is not ‘literally’.  It is ‘very’.  I know it doesn’t seem to sound as intellectual, but if you are speaking to intellectual people, they will appreciate that you did not slaughter the language.  Literally.  Oh wait.  Scratch that last part.