Yet Another Pet Peeve

Today’s pet peeve is misuse of “literally.”

When you use “literally,” you’re supposed to mean something like “actual,” “real,” or “in truth.” You’re not supposed to mean “nearly,” figuratively,” or “sort of.” So Jeremy plays a trick on us here by managing to use “literally” literally, not figuratively, Sara’s first opinion notwithstanding.

Zits - 01/21/2018

The rule: “literally” doesn’t mean “figuratively” or “almost.”

By the way, you should literally write those thank-you notes.