Literally Figuratively

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Guy from San Diego, and I’m hoping you can help me with a usage dilemma.

Well, hello, Guy. We’ll sure try. What’s up?

Well, there are a few, a very small number of things that I hear people say or write very often that really grate with me.

And one of them is when I hear people say something like, I literally exploded with anger.

Right.

Yeah.

And, you know, this is the, I always just sort of quietly say to myself,

They can’t help being an idiot, they can’t help being an idiot.

And then I was surprised to read a piece in Slate by Jesse Scheidlauer

Saying that, in fact, that usage is just fine.

So my main dilemma is, if literally is an intensifier,

Then what do I say when I mean literally?

That is the problem in a nutshell, and actually it’s the reason why

This usage of literally shows up on so many people’s favorite peeve lists is literally

Used in this way is annoying because they’re using literally in a figurative way. And literally

Not being used literally is kind of mind bending. It’s like naming a child a grandpa. It just

Really doesn’t make any sense.

Right.

I like that. Yeah. Well, I feel the same way, though. I mean, if somebody says I literally

Exploded with rage, I mean, you know, call in sunshine cleaning and, you know, wipe down the

Walls. It’s gross. But here, a couple of things. First, Jesse Scheidlauer is a colleague of mine,

So I understand where he’s coming with this article. I think the article is a little more

Nuanced than that. What he’s saying here by laying out this historical record that shows that

Literally has been used figuratively for a very long time by some of the best writers in English,

In edited text, of mine, you’re not even in their personal correspondence. What he means to

Demonstrate is that this is not some passing quirk of the ignorant and the maleducated.

Right? What he’s demonstrating is that this use of literally goes hand in hand with other uses of

Adverbs that are used to emphasize things or to kind of exaggerate. So we use, as he says in the

Article, really in that way, you know, or nearly is my favorite one. I nearly died. I was so

Embarrassed. Well, no, you didn’t actually nearly die. You weren’t anywhere near dying. Or

She’s really as dumb as a stump, isn’t she? You know, she’s not, actually. She’s a thinking,

Breathing, educated human being that you just happen to disagree with. So we use a lot of

Different words in this way to overemphasize. Because here’s the thing, and do I hear an

Australian accent there, Guy? Yes. Okay. Here’s the thing, and maybe you’ll appreciate this about

Americans. We, and I know Australians have this trait too, but I’m just going to talk about my

Own people and you can talk about yours. We tend to overstate and exaggerate to make a point.

Adverbs in particular in the mouths of Americans are stretched so far beyond their limits that

They’re almost unrecognizable. We never met an adjective we didn’t like. And there’s nothing

Like we like more than saying things about ourselves that are so absurd that they kind

Of emphasize our point. And I’m not the first guy to say this. I mean, I think the best American

Writers have been saying this for more than a century about Americans and their tendency to

Boast and brag. I mean, just think about the old stories of the riverboat storytellers,

The guys out there on the steamboats who were talking about how they whipped a hurricane and

Were the son of a crocodile married to a tornado or whatever it was.

I don’t know, Grant, I’m still bothered by literally. I’m more in guys camp on this,

And I’m sitting here trying to think about why nearly and really, like I’m really dying to go to that concert.

I’m trying to figure out why that doesn’t bother me as much as literally.

It’s because literally, here’s why, because this is what I think.

Literally, not being used literally is mind-bendingly odd.

It’s just weird.

You’re like, wait a second.

I kind of feel like literally should always be used literally.

Right.

Literally should not be used figuratively.

Well, Guy, have you changed your mind at all, or are you going to sit there reading Jane Austen saying to yourself, Jane Austen is an idiot, Jane Austen is an idiot?

I don’t know. I think maybe there’s a new standardization of the word is developing, and maybe I should fight for that.

All right. Well, I hope if we have a convention, we’ve at least given you a vigorous debate.

Some ideas to think about. Thank you very much for taking my call.

Thank you, Guy.

Thanks, Guy.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

Well, what do you think about literally or figuratively or other words?

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