What is with the word 'literally' ?!

[KurtNYC]

I saw a local politician use it in a way I considered wrong. It has come up before and it was bugging me. He (Gifford Miller, NY City Council) said that the Bloomberg administration has "literally put a band aid on" the problem that is our school system.

To me that would mean that billionaire Mike Bloomberg took out a small band aid and stuck it to the wall of a school. But I have heard so many other people use it that way, hyperbole, that I looked it up:

1. (intensifier before a figurative expression) without exaggeration; "our eyes were literally pinned to TV during the Gulf war"
2. in a literal sense; "literally translated"; "he said so literally"

http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/literally

Whaaaa ? So if I want to say, in one word, that what I'm saying is not a figure of speach, but something that really happened, what word do I use?

edit to add: Are there other words like this which have 2 definitions which totally contradict each other?

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Yep, used wrong. David Cross did a great bit about "literally" and

"virtually".

"Hey, man, that was so funny I literally shit my pants."

"Really? What did you do with your pants?"

"No, man, I didn't say I *did* shit my pants, I literally shit my pants!"

"Yeah, so I'm asking - what did you do with the pants? They must have been dirty"

"No, you idiot - I **literally** shit my pants!"

[Rob H.]

14. "David Cross" were the first words I thought when I saw the thread title

(Sportscaster voice) "Ooh! He literally ripped his head off on that play!"

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. p.s. - I, too, wish to hell that people would learn how to use the goddamn

language properly before opening their mouths. I mean, I literally have a shitfit - literally, we're talking shit flying literally everywhere - every time someone makes these kinds of idiot, useless moran asshole "mistakes". And I put mistakes in quotes because they aren't really mistakes, they're signs of a vapid, intentional dumbness that tells me the person doesn't even fucking care about the use of language.

[KurtNYC]

6. But I'm saying I looked in two dictionaries

and it shows it both ways right next to each other. First meaning = literally (meaning not a figure of speach), second meaning = virtually (ie. a figure of speech) ?! What good is the word at this point if it can mean two totally opposite things.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Because a figure of speech is already unreal,

then it doesn't matter so much if you add the "literally" in front of it.

We already know that one's eyes cannot be pinned to the TV (unless you're Hannibal Lechter or etc.), so to say literally pinned to the TV is simply to intensify how much your eyes were pinned to the TV.

However, it's still a dumb usage, since the phrase "pinned to the TV" already implies a state of maximum - like saying something is "totally unique" or "the most unique". Something that is unique is already at maximum - you can't be more unique, or less unique. Pinned to the TV, and other figures of speech, are already maxed - so adding "literally" or even "most" or "more" or "totally" or "utterly" becomes redundant, and a sign of uncreative thinking and sloppiness of thought and communication.

[Demit]

13. Actually that is WHY you would use the word "literally" in front of a

hyperbolic metaphor--to differentiate it from the metaphor.

"Hannibal tore her heart out and stomped that sucker flat...No, I mean he LITERALLY tore her heart out and..." See?

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. It was an inspired guess - though I bet that the dictionary writer

included that usage of literal because so many people are using it now.

Since dictionaries are more about reflecting word usage, then dictating word usage.

Sad, though, that we're slowly using the distinction between literal and virtual.

"Hey - want to try my literal reality goggles?"

[Demit]

9. Which ones? I'm curious. I looked at my American Heritage, then my

Random House, and they both agree that it means not metaphorical. And they don't say anything about "virtually" being a synonym...

(I always notice that mis-usage. Sometimes people say quite unintentionally hilarious things.)

[KurtNYC]

11. Burning my dictionary

going to buy Random House version....

aaaaah, sanity restored.

[KurtNYC]

16. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate

Copyright 1989
Literally - (adv) 1. in a literal sense or manner: ACTUALLY (took the remark ____)(was ____ insane) 2. in effect: VIRTUALLY (will _____ turn the world upside down)

Then there is a usage note...

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

Personally, I don't see any need for sense number 2. Most metaphors are self-evident and when something appears to be a metaphor but isn't I use the word 'literally' to make that distinction.

[arcane1]

3. one of the Dem candidates for prez misused it too

I can't recall who it was, said the Bush admin is literally in bed with the pharm industry (or was it some other industry?)

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. Well, that usage has a fair chance of actually being accurate

Wouldn't surprise me, anyway. Given the sexual perversion of the "family values" party.

[arcane1]

7. lmao, indeed!

:silly:

[Worst Username Ever]

4. I literally don't know. n/t

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. A word with opposite meanings: cleave

It means "to divide or separate" and "to unite or adhere to".

[redqueen]

12. I guess it's like 'irregardless'

People just get to make up whatever words or word meanings they want to, and if enough do it, then the whole country accommodates their whim.

Chaos!

[Left Is Write]

17. I am quite literally disturbed by that.

"Literal" should not be used to signify something that is "figurative."

I personally will not be using it that way.

[gollygee]

18. I hate when people use that word like that

It literally drives me NUTS!

(just kidding) hehe

[WMliberal]

19. well, figuratively speaking... n/t