Misuse of the word 'literally'

Remember Jamie Redknapp on Sky doing his punditry and I can’t remember who he was on about but said “he’s literally ran himself into the ground”. Nice one Jamie.
 
My missus has always said, “not being horrible but...” before twisting the knife in a bit more.

It literally invokes a rise in my emotions, an Amygdala hijack in my brain, leading to an inability for me to control this surge in disappointment and confusion and I say rude word.
 
My millennial sister in law says ‘essentially’ a lot, and that seems to be the buzz word of the day for the ‘literally’ crowd. Knobbers.
 
Language is fluid. It evolves over the years There's no point in getting worked up about it. Just makes you sound like a grumpy old git. No offence meant to you there grumpyoldgit.
 
Last edited:
Thankfully, no one born prior to 1980 has ever said anything inappropriate

The apparent misuse of "Literally" does not present a barrier to effective communication. In fact, "the kids" seem to understand its use in this context. It is therefore, in my view of language, a valid use of the term.

Of course you may view things differently. But very few of us exhibit perfect grammar. We are simply unware or ignorant of the many ways in which we break the rules.

Just as we might look down on those that deploy literally for emphasis, there are those that take a dim view of our approach to the language.
 
Thankfully, no one born prior to 1980 has ever said anything inappropriate

The apparent misuse of "Literally" does not present a barrier to effective communication. In fact, "the kids" seem to understand its use in this context. It is therefore, in my view of language, a valid use of the term.

Of course you may view things differently. But very few of us exhibit perfect grammar. We are simply unware or ignorant of the many ways in which we break the rules.

Just as we might look down on those that deploy literally for emphasis, there are those that take a dim view of our approach to the language.
I think I said that exact same thing in far simpler terms a few posts ago, didn't I?
 
Back
Top