literally :

literally

Like “” “literally” has been so overused as a sort of vague intensifier that it is in danger of losing its literal meaning. It should be used to distinguish between a figurative and a literal meaning of a phrase. It should not be used as a synonym for “actually” or “really.” Don’t say of someone that he “literally blew up” unless he swallowed a stick of dynamite.

Facebook Twitter Google +


Definitions

  • r  in a literal sense
    literally translated
    he said so literally
  • r  (intensifier before a figurative expression) without exaggeration
    our eyes were literally pinned to TV during the Gulf War
News & Articles

  • Free speech outside Supreme Court: Ban on protests in plaza struck down
    In a case that brings free speech protections literally to the very steps of the US Supreme Court, a federal judge in Washington has struck down as unconstitutional a statute that allowed police to arrest anyone attempting to deliver a message of protest on the wide marble plaza outside the high court’s elegant front entrance.
    June 12, 2013 - Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News
  • Online Tool Shows Running An Electric Car Can Be As Cheap As Gas At A Buck A Gallon
    While the current cost of a gallon of gasoline is literally posted on street corners, it’s difficult for those considering an electric vehicle to gauge how much it might cost to power his or her daily commute from the local power grid, versus making the trek in a conventionally powered model. The Environmental Protection Agency posts “electric equivalent” fuel economy ratings, but it’s still ...
    June 12, 2013 - Forbes
  • Free speech outside Supreme Court: Ban on protests in plaza struck down
    In a case that brings free speech protections literally to the very steps of the US Supreme Court, a federal judge in Washington has struck down as unconstitutional a statute that allowed police to arrest anyone attempting to deliver a message of protest on the wide marble plaza outside the high court’s elegant front entrance.
    June 12, 2013 - Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News