Chris Higgins
Literally the Best Blog Ever (Actually, Figuratively)
by Chris Higgins - April 9, 2010 - 4:03 PM

I can’t tell you how often I hear someone use the term “literally” when he or she means “figuratively.” It bugs me nearly as much as “misused” quotation marks. So I urge you to check out Literally, a Web Log, a site cataloging the horrendous misuse of the term “literally.” Examples? Oh, you bet:

Literally kill for vampire co-star: Kristen Stewart (of the Twilight movies) said: “I literally saw Jacob in him.” “I would kill for him, literally.”

Literally tear Santa’s heart out. Santa Joe said: “I’ve had children just literally tear my heart out.”

Regarding Britney Spears, Dr. Timothy Brantley said: “She’s literally on a roller coaster to hell.”

I’m literally gouging my eyes out reading this blog. Literally. Wait, figuratively. Oh, too late, eyes are gone. Typing…getting…harder…losing…blood….

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Comments (34)

  1. You should check out today’s XKCD Comic!

    Fit’s right in with this topic.

    http://www.xkcd.com/

    posted by russfeld on 4-9-2010 at 4:05 pm

  2. I think you need to look up the word hyperbole.

    posted by Katy on 4-9-2010 at 4:24 pm

  3. Holy geeze, YES! It’s everywhere! Drives me nuts!

    posted by AAAKnight on 4-9-2010 at 4:26 pm

  4. I never heard anyone use “figuratively” in those types of sentances. Can you imagine how weird that would sound? “I would kill for him, figuratively.” Just doesn’t sound right folks.

    Sometimes certain things become so inbedded in our society it just sounds wrong doing it the correct way!

    posted by Katie Rose on 4-9-2010 at 4:33 pm

  5. @russfeld – the xkcd homepage is dynamic – it changes everyday. Here is a direct link to the comic: http://xkcd.com/725/

    I thought the SAME thing!!!!

    posted by Justin L on 4-9-2010 at 4:49 pm

  6. I started to read the article. Once I got the gist of it (and read “Literally kill for vampire co-star: Kristen Stewart (of the Twilight movies) said: “I literally saw Jacob in him.” “I would kill for him, literally.”), I had to stop reading.

    I would have had to gouge out my eyes. (Initially, I said “I would have literally had…”, but thought that was a bit much.)

    posted by Jennifer on 4-9-2010 at 4:57 pm

  7. @Katie Rose – well, I don’t mean that people should walk around qualifying everything by saying the word “figuratively.” I would imagine it’s clear that it’s a figure of speech when someone says “I would kill for that man.” The problem is that when a speaker specifically says it’s literal, that shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the word “literal” and the core notion of a figure of speech.

    It’s the same issue demonstrated by commenter Katy, above, who says I should look up hyperbole. Clearly saying something is “the Best Blog Ever” is a figure of speech, used hyperbolically. Besides, everybody knows the best blog ever is this one.

    posted by Chris Higgins on 4-9-2010 at 4:59 pm

  8. I understand.

    I can’t stand when people say “ironically” when they mean “coincidentally.”

    Then there’s “irregardless” which makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

    posted by Kelsey on 4-9-2010 at 5:03 pm

  9. We should lobby for more updates on the Literally Blog. It’s literally been months since the last post.

    I submitted one a while back; some politician referred to the defeat of a funding bill as “Literally throwing children to the wolves.”

    posted by Seth on 4-9-2010 at 5:16 pm

  10. It’s really hard for me to keep reading these comments without eyes, but I’ve got a text-to-speech system that mostly works.

    Seth, maybe you should just start a competitive blog?

    posted by Chris Higgins on 4-9-2010 at 5:22 pm

  11. The word people are trying to use is not “figuratively.” They are trying to say “really.” But their high school teachers told them not to use “really” as an adverb.

    In all of these cases, neither “really” nor “literally” is necessary. Omit needless, as Strunk and White would say.

    posted by George on 4-9-2010 at 5:38 pm

  12. Well, Merriam-Webster says it’s okay to use in this sense (see #2 and Usage below):

    “1 : in a literal sense or manner : actually
    2 : in effect : virtually

    Usage: Since some people take sense 2 to be the opposite of sense 1, it has been frequently criticized as a misuse. Instead, the use is pure hyperbole intended to gain emphasis, but it often appears in contexts where no additional emphasis is necessary. ”

    I figure, if the dictionary says it’s okay, I’ll go with it. Of course, if it weren’t in the dictionary, that usage would be literally painful to the ears.

    posted by Moth on 4-9-2010 at 7:12 pm

  13. I hate when people say they ‘could care less’ when they mean ‘couldn’t care less/’

    posted by Russ on 4-9-2010 at 8:54 pm

  14. Crazy person in http://xkcd.com/725/ literally based on Chris Higgins? He has the beard and crazy hair …

    posted by Scarfie on 4-9-2010 at 9:23 pm

  15. Figuratively is really not a replacement for how people use literally. People are using the word correctly, but often it is just redundant.

    posted by Jack on 4-9-2010 at 9:51 pm

  16. I think the problem is just adverb abuse. I leave you with a quote from Mark Twain:

    I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me. To misplace an adverb is a thing which I am able to do with frozen indifference; it can never give me a pang. … There are subtleties which I cannot master at all,–the confuse me, they mean absolutely nothing to me,–and this adverb plague is one of them. … Yes, there are things which we cannot learn, and there is no use in fretting about it. I cannot learn adverbs; and what is more I won’t.
    - “Reply to a Boston Girl,” Atlantic Monthly, June 18

    posted by Rufus T. Harlemberry on 4-9-2010 at 10:35 pm

  17. This is my biggest pet peeve! I am not a person who is usually put off by people who misuse words, but I cringe when people use literally incorrectly.

    posted by jpatte02 on 4-9-2010 at 10:37 pm

  18. When people say “It was literally the best movie ever”, they aren’t using ‘literally’ to warn that they don’t actually mean it was the funniest movie ever. The fact they don’t really mean it is obvious– ‘literally’ is just acting as an embellishment, a hyperbole just like the phrase ‘best _____ ever’.

    So you should really be complaining “Man, I really hate when people exaggerate!”

    posted by Stert on 4-9-2010 at 10:54 pm

  19. “Oh, too late, eyes are gone.”

    I find comma splices much more annoying.

    posted by Melanie on 4-9-2010 at 11:08 pm

  20. http://xkcd.com/725/

    Ha, saw this a few minutes before I read the blog entry.

    posted by Emma on 4-9-2010 at 11:45 pm

  21. What about the misused apostrophe and misspelled words? Ugh.

    Guess I’ll have to delete eyes from my organ donor card.

    posted by chris on 4-10-2010 at 1:40 am

  22. I agree with Kelsey. While misuse (overuse?) of literally is irritating, words like irregardless really make me nuts.

    posted by Hyacinth on 4-10-2010 at 8:31 am

  23. Thank you Moth! I literally came running (intended) with the Merriam-Webster definition as soon as I saw this but saw that you had beat me to the punch.

    posted by Manda on 4-10-2010 at 9:16 am

  24. This feels much like my angst about “irregardless”. Not so much.

    posted by PiedrasPR on 4-10-2010 at 9:24 am

  25. I use “I could care less” a lot. Of course I mean it more as: “Seriously, this is the most caring you could possibly ever get out of me about this topic.”
    “I couldn’t care less” is just begging others to convince you to care more.

    posted by Kris on 4-10-2010 at 3:13 pm

  26. People know the difference between literally and figuratively. They’re just exaggerating for effect when they say things like that. It’s up to the listener to figure out when they’re actually being serious. And it’s never that hard to figure out, so calm down.

    posted by Stephanie on 4-10-2010 at 5:10 pm

  27. It’s called exaggeration.

    posted by Amanda on 4-10-2010 at 7:31 pm

  28. On the “Literally, A Web Log” site there’s a link on the sidebar to Paul Brian’s “Common Errors in English Usage”.
    Highly recommended.
    http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

    It has irregardless, could care less, and a lot (not alot) of other really common errors. Beg the question? Imminent/eminent? Elicit/illicit?
    I enjoy the owl beside the correct usage and the…uh, donky beside the incorrect.

    posted by AMR on 4-11-2010 at 5:40 pm

  29. Ha! I always do that. I assume you recognize hyperbole.

    posted by Kelli on 4-11-2010 at 11:07 pm

  30. In case you’re looking for another blog that mocks the overuse of “literally” and other misused phrases, check out my friend’s site: languageandgrammar.com.

    The blog is written by Paul Yeager and his wife Sherry Coven.

    Paul is the author of the popular language book, “Literally, the Best Language Book Ever – Annoying Words and Abused Phrases You Should Never Use Again”.

    posted by Tom on 4-12-2010 at 7:45 am

  31. Lol my friend from New Zealand would say “literally” all the time too.

    He showed me this one comic i can’t remember who it was but it was pretty funny, when he hears people who “literally peed their pants”. and the comic goes on to say, “wow man that’s terrible, out in public? what did you do?” and the person replies, “well i didn’t LITERALLY pee my pants, but you know what I mean” lol. good stuff.

    Also, “then god literally came down from took the blocker to heaven, and he dined for seven days and seven nights, but to us, it was a nano second, and put him back in the game and granted him god like blocking abilities…” lol. not as funny here but if anyone knows what i’m talking about gimme a link!!!!

    posted by xanderjones on 4-12-2010 at 12:27 pm

  32. PS i hate irregardless too. but i’ve learned there is no point in trying to correct someone.

    they will either think you’re an ass, or get totally defensive and argue that it’s actually correct.

    Combine the fact that this happens mostly in a work setting, it’s not a good road to go down.

    posted by xanderjones on 4-12-2010 at 12:30 pm

  33. I’m kinda of sick of people being faux-intellectual by pointing out errors in word usage.
    Speech rules are not set in stone they change over time…People have literally have been using literally for emphasis since the 1700′s.

    irregardless and regardless mean the same thing. they are both correct.

    stop being so pedantic

    posted by lewen on 4-12-2010 at 12:47 pm

  34. I’m right there with you (no, not literally–figuratively). Misuse of that word and misuse of quotation marks are two of my biggest pet peeves.

    posted by Donna on 4-16-2010 at 5:40 pm

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