The misuse of the word "Literally" kills me. Literally.

Twice on talk radio yesterday I heard the host misuse the word literally incorrectly. And it [literally] twists my insides up the way the use of irregardless [literally] kills my sister when she hears it's use (even though it is a real word).

In case you are not aware, "literally" does not mean that the metaphor to follow is a literary bit of prose. According to Common errors in English,

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."

I have found that almost every use of the word is the exact opposite of it's literal meaning, literally.

Thankfully, I don't have to make eradicationtion of this misuse of language the goal of this blog. Someone has beaten me to it. Literally, A Web log has done an excellent job of collecting samples of use with commentary.

I'm going to literally add it to my news feeds.

(Wait, that wasn't witty or smart. Nuts.)