Misuse of 'literally'

[DouzeQuinze]

It is so annoying!!!

Heard today - "The weight of the world has literally been lifted from my shoulders"...

There have been many instances recently and it really grates on me! Anyone else?!

I cannot bear it! I also cannot bear the over-use, and usually inappropriate use, of 'random' too.
Grrr.

Oh, this sort of thing literally annoys me.

As does 'Can I get a....?' instead of 'please' when in a shop

and 'like' as in 'it was so like busy in there, y'know like competely mad' Gah!

The misuse of "literally" is much worse than the misuse or overuse of other words like "like," "really," "brought" etc.

That's because the word "literally" exists for the sole purpose of indicating when you are not being metaphorical, but are describing real events as they actually occurred.

To hear it used as if it means the exact opposite of what it actually means is much, much more grating to me than any other grammar transgression. With the possible exception of "110%".

From someone who should know better: "Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet" James Joyce, opening sentence of The Dead. Perhaps the worst way to start a short story ever.

PfftTheMagicDragon according to the OED the use of decimated to mean destruction of one-tenth is now only a historical use; general use is either to kill, destroy, or remove a large portion or to drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness.

(Sorry but I was literally just copy-editing a book that used the term and so I looked it up to double-check.)

(See what I did there? )

I read an interview with Rachel Stevens where she said her legs had "literally turned to jelly".

Minnie nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

It gets worse.

It also says, re: literally
adverb

• in a literal manner or sense; exactly:
  e.g. the driver took it literally when asked to go straight over the roundabout

• informal used for emphasis while not being literally true:
  e.g. I have received literally thousands of letters

"* informal used for emphasis while not being literally true:
e.g. I have received literally thousands of letters"

Just another example of appalling use of language becoming the 'norm' because people are too ignorant to use it properly. In this case the poorly educated inmates have taken over the asylum (OED)

Life's not fair minnie.

Snuvs - but isn't that just a use of the free indirect style, so James 'quoting' Lily (who might misuse the word literally) without directly quoting her?

I do love it when a football commentator announces "So-and-so has been literally on fire tonight." And yet they never seem to follow it up with "and our thoughts are with his family"...

I know someone who uses the word literally when she means 'very' or 'really'.

Like, "What a day! I am literally tired".

Oh shut up you miserable lot of pedants, you're literally making my eyes bleed and my brain to explode.

Sheep, nooooooooo. I'm literally going to kill you.

It literally kills me when people abuse hyperbole to this extent.

Duchesse, I have told you a million times not to exaggerate!

A colleague told me that his students had been "literally galvanised" by my lecture.

[Painful]

Duchesse, don't take things so bloody literally.

Only two thijgs irritate me as much:

1. Anyone using a percentage over 100. "I'll give it 110% from now on." Oh will you? That's a good trick. I would like a glass of water that's 110% full please, then maybe you'll realise how stupid that expression is.

2. "You know wha' I mean?" No, actually, because if I knew what you meant you wouldn't have to tell me, would you you cretin?

Ah gosh, such a relief to voice that little rant. Pregnancy is seriously affecting my tolerance of other people.

"Utterly" annoys me too. It's too OTT for most sentences. "I was utterly shocked to find X Factor was on at 8.05 instead of 8.00". "This Greggs sausage rolls is utterly delicious".

cakes

1) Anyone using a percentage over 100. "I'll give it 110% from now on." Oh will you? That's a good trick. I would like a glass of water that's 110% full please, then maybe you'll realise how stupid that expression is.

So if a salesman said he made 150% of his target he would be talking nonsense would he?

Malinois oh ok ok, when used in a maths sense it can occasionally be a valid expression, but how many times do you hear it used correctly compared to prats on TV thinking it makes them sound like they're trying harder?

Oh, and can I just drop a little comment about people saying 'myself' or 'yourself' in a Hyacinth Bucket style accent when they should be saying 'me' or 'you'.

"And would that be for yourself, Madam?"

No, it does not make you sound 'posher', it makes you sound ignorant.

110% is the preserve of X Factor wannabes who literally give 110% to their dream, having burst forth from the womb 16 short years previously only ever wanting one thing in life. To entertain.

There is no way James Joyce didn't know exactly what he was doing with his use of the word literally. In one short sentence he has introduced Lily's manner of expressing herself. See also his stream of consciousness chapter in Ulysses which is pitch perfect down to the inclusion of things like 3/4 instead of three quarters. It can ONLY be deliberate and designed to challenge you or summat. I do have a begrudging respect for the man despite having spent 2hrs of a 3hr masters seminar debating the literal meaning of the statement 'he ate his kidneys with relish' (see Ulysses). Them's 2hrs I'm not getting back.

Oh yes, the X-Factor wannabes, on their marvellous 'journey'.