Why don't the you ger generation understand the meaning of the word literally?

[Fairenuff]

I was literally wetting myself.

No you weren't.

It was literally raining cats and dogs.

No it wasn't

It literally turned the house upside down.

No it didn't.

What is wrong with them. Why don't they know what that word means?

Yes!
This is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Is this why they say things are "lit"?

I always think of the Horrible Histories ‘Viking Song’...

m.youtube.com/watch?v=8qSkaAwKMD4

Am I part of the younger generation now? I'm 47 and I can remember getting to the point where I had to catch myself before I said literally yet again. It has been a thing for, like, literally forever.

It's definitely not a younger generation thing. I've heard it misused by people of all ages.

Language evolves. Colloquialisms fall into general use and meanings change. Otherwise we’d all still be walking around saying “forsooth” and “verily”.

Nobody actually thinks “Literally” means “Literally”.

You are not the gatekeeper of the English language.

If it makes you feel better, my 9 year old makes me laugh a lot by using ‘figuratively’ in these situations.

He also likes using the word ‘thrice’. It’s hilarious; “I went on the slide thrice.”

The only thing that annoys me is that he says ‘writ’ as a past participle for ‘write’, although no doubt he’s technically allowed... I’ve never checked if it’s in there as ‘archaic’.

Colmanballs ‘Literally’ columns were the best though.

I remember one like ‘The Achille’s heel of Mansell’s car has come back to haunt him... and it literally is the heel, because it’s the gearbox.’

It pisses me off as well. The younger generations are getting thicker and thicker. It’s quite scary actually

It was literally raining cats and dogs.

Surely no young person would ever use this expression, with or without the “literally”?

@EugenesAxe that made me smile “I went on the slide thrice”

What really bugs me is people (not just the youth) saying generally in place of genuinely. SO annoying!

@EugenesAxe "I went on the slide thrice" Your son sounds adorable.

Thrice is very underused; think I will join him in using it more!

Yes, intensifier. That's the word I was looking for.

Are people honestly saying that in the hundreds of years that the English language has been evolving, the exact point of 10/20 years ago was the pinnacle of linguistic perfection; and no further changes are allowed?!?

The younger generations are getting thicker and thicker.

No they aren't. The older generation always get their knickers in a twist about the younger generation's language fads and supposed ignorance. It was probably literally ever thus. The topic certainly crops up in Roman and Ancient Greek literature.
Every parental generation conveniently forgets about all the stupid turns of phrase they used when they were younger (some of which will have now gone out of fashion and some of which may have become a totally normal part of the language).
The younger generation no doubt do know what literally used to mean, not least because people like the OP probably spend their whole time peevishly pointing it out .

The older generation is getting ever more set in its ways.

Eugenes your child's demonstrating how this use of literally evolved there. It's great.

Literal definition of 'literal' involves whether something is 100% real or not. That's the element of meaning that's been picked up and over-extended. That 'literal' means 'real'.

They get it from figuring out from context that literally functions within a sentence in the same manner as absolutely, totally, etc.

EugenesAxe, I wish your son could encourage people to use the word “twice”, let alone thrice! So many adverts set my teeth on edge with their “two times better” or “two times cheaper” instead of twice as good/cheap.
The decline in reading books, coupled with the rise in hours spent on video games by the younger generation, bodes ill for their future literacy and breadth of vocabulary.
Even now, people are mocked as pedants or sneeringly referred to as “the grammar police” here on MN, for simply trying to correct errors and maintain standards.

I don’t think it’s the younger generation - I misuse literally all the time and I’m 40

Nobody actually thinks “Literally” means “Literally”.

What is the word we should use when we do mean literally?

people like the OP probably spend their whole time peevishly pointing it out

I would never be so rude in rl. This is what mn is for, a place to bring your musings

Maybe I'm just hearing it a lot from the younger people around me or maybe it's just a very popular word atm.

Fairenuff it's both - speed of spread on new word constructions has been massively amplified by the existence of the internet.

We just really notice it with literally because of the sheer frequency of ironic result.

I remember trying to break the habit of saying “literally” as a child back in the 80s so I don’t think it’s a new thing.

There’s a fascinating article on word changes in English if anyone is interested. Nice once meant stupid and ignorant.

@Exp1etiveDeLighted no, when someone says "It's lit" they mean that it's "hot", or "on fire", as in lit on fire...

I don't understand myself, and I'm 25. I've got friends using it all the time.

My daughter has started using “I goes” for “I said”

Are you in the North? Everyone I know says 'I goes'.

The one that really pisses me off is when people write "a myriad of ways" - the juxtaposition of the inherent singularity of the rogue article with the causal implication of the noun empties the word of its functional purpose.

It literally drives me mad.