I Literally...

[Flick James]

I know this has been brought up here before, I think in a thread about overused words and phrases, but this one never ceases to amaze me, and I just heard it used a little bit ago. There's this thing lately where people, and I see it both in casual conversation and in media, use the word "literally" when they're saying something that is clearly figurative. I makes no sense and when I hear it I can only assume the person is a moron.

"Okay, so, you literally have this guy over a barrel?"

Anyway, a couple of my coworkers were talking about the weekend and one guy was talking about some incredibly funny thing that happened, and how it was so funny that he "literally s**t his pants."

So, in my place of work, it's generally pretty acceptable to interject into a conversation if two people are talking right next to you and at regular volume, that is, not secretive in any way, so I did. I said "Wait a second. So, you literally s**t your pants?"

"Yeah, man, it was that funny." He said.

"So," I said, "let me get this straight, he said so-and-so to you and you immediately evacuated your bowels into your pants? You must have had to race to the bathroom pretty quick."

"No, man, I didn't actually s**t in my pants. It's just it was really funny."

"Oh. I see. You do know what literally means, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, whatever. You know what I meant."

I don't get this. What is it with people using literally when they mean figuratively? And no, why should I know that you really weren't being literal? Am I just being overly picky? I understand the mutable and informal nature of this American version of the English language that we practice, but come on. On one hand I guess it's amusing calling someone out on literally s**tting their pants, I mean, how can it not be. On the other hand, it's a bit disturbing that people will so flippantly use a word like literally.

I've been noticing this happening all the time lately. It's almost as if I have to start searching for another word to use for things that actually happened besides literally because apparently it can no longer be used for that purpose.

Whew!

[Paquita]

Ha!  I see what you mean, but personally, I haven’t seen it misused that much for it to bother me.  The few times I have noticed it used incorrectly, like in the example you gave, I just took it as the guy is trying to add emphasis to his point.  It would have sounded strange for him to say he figuratively pooped his pants..  Now that I think of it, probably a lot more people don’t know what “figuratively” means.. maybe that’s the problem? 

Maybe I’m just so used to it that I don’t notice?  Tell me if I ever use “literally” wrong because I want to know!

[lester1/2jr]

I literally have no idea what you're talking about.

[AndyC]

I've noticed some people seem to think it's used for emphasis or something. It bugs me when I hear it, but I agree with Paquita that it's not common enough to be a major peeve. I think you have to be pretty ignorant not to understand what literally means, even more so than the average idiot who misuses words.

[Flick James]

It amuses me more than it annoys me, despite what my initial post may suggest. But it does bother me a little. Paquita, you're right, I think that's exactly how it is used.

It's like people who say "honestly" before they say something. They're not meaning to suggest that they've been lying or being less than honest up to that point, they're using it to emphasize the seriousness or impact of the point they're about to make. But to me it makes me question their intent. Think about it. If someone says "honestly" before they go into a point, especially if they really emphasize the "honestly" like most do when they use it, the very first thing I think is, "so, you've been deceiving me about everything you've said before?" I can't escape it. Perhaps it's because I used to work in sales and fellow salesmen would use "honestly" a lot, and it almost always sounded like sales-y bulls**t to me.

It's quite possible there are plenty of informal misuses of language just as bad as "literally" that I don't pick up on, those ones just always jump out at me.