Analyzing Everyday Rhetoric: Misuse of the word “literally”

I feel sorry for the word “literally”. It is overused and misused to a horrifying extent in our society, to the point that I’ve started cringing every time I hear someone use the word.

As seen in the Canadian Oxford English Dictionary, literal means to take words in their usual or primary sense without metaphor or allegory. To use it is to be without metaphor, exaggeration, or inaccuracy.

The way I see it, there are two rules when it comes to the word “literally”:

1) You cannot use it unless you mean it in actuality or unless it is factual. For example, you cannot say “I’m literally sitting on that fence” when discussing a metaphoric issue. That’s the point of the word “literal”. It’s literal, not metaphoric. Unless you physically are sitting on a fence, do not use the word “literally”.

2) You need to use it in context. This word is often thrown around haphazardly without appropriate context, and it is often unnecessarily overused. Although the phrase “That store is literally right across the street” is technically correct, it’s also a little redundant (literally and right essentially mean the same thing in this context) and it also isn’t necessary in the sentence to convey specific meaning.

The word “literally” is sadly misused and maltreated. Please treat words with the care that they deserve.