So the other day I was talking to someone who'd just taken the SAT, and I asked her how it went. She said, "Ugh, it was so long it literally fried my brain."
Not to be a word-usage witch, but...
Ahem. Wrong. Unless the SAT was some kind of stovetop and she took out her brain and plunked it into a frying pan with some grease, I seriously doubt that that the SAT fried much of anything. Now, if she'd said, "It was so long it fried my brain," I'd have been fine. But that's not what she said; she threw in literally for emphasis. Which implies that, well, her brain was literally fried. My deepest regrets and sympathies for this unfortunate development in her life.
I've also heard people say things like, "If he doesn't turn that paper in today, I am literally going to kill him," or, "That movie literally made my skin crawl." Person 1, I'm afraid, must be a murderer, and person 2 has the weirdest/creepiest skin I've ever seen.
So, lesson learned: literally isn't a word of emphasis. Don't use it.
Of course, there's always the possibility that these people were NOT misusing the word in question. In which case, I'm afraid.
Not to be a word-usage witch, but...
Ahem. Wrong. Unless the SAT was some kind of stovetop and she took out her brain and plunked it into a frying pan with some grease, I seriously doubt that that the SAT fried much of anything. Now, if she'd said, "It was so long it fried my brain," I'd have been fine. But that's not what she said; she threw in literally for emphasis. Which implies that, well, her brain was literally fried. My deepest regrets and sympathies for this unfortunate development in her life.
I've also heard people say things like, "If he doesn't turn that paper in today, I am literally going to kill him," or, "That movie literally made my skin crawl." Person 1, I'm afraid, must be a murderer, and person 2 has the weirdest/creepiest skin I've ever seen.
So, lesson learned: literally isn't a word of emphasis. Don't use it.
Of course, there's always the possibility that these people were NOT misusing the word in question. In which case, I'm afraid.
Hey did you know that you can make "ILL REALITY" out of literally. Hmmm.... something to think about.
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