Pylimitics

The word “literally” comes from the Latin “literalis’ (pertaining to letters) and its (ahem) literal meaning is “word for word” or “exactly.” You most often see it used in sentences like this: “After getting that promotion I was literally walking on air.” Now, it’s very close to literally true that the speaker was not literally walking on air, right? It’s not unusual for usages like that to be scoffed at because it’s very common — arguably more common — for “literally” to be used to mean “figuratively,” which is in a sense its opposite.

But there’s really literally wrong with that usage — like many other words, “literally” has two meanings. In this case, the meanings are contradictory. “Literally” isn’t unique in that regard either. The word “permit” can mean to allow, and it can also mean to punish. The word “cleave” can mean to separate, and it can also mean to come together. 

Complaints about the figurative use of “literally” often assume that not only is it a mistake to use the word that way, but that it’s a recent development. That’s not true either. “Literally” first appeared in the early 1400s in something called The Mirour of Mans Saluacion, where it was used in its literal, not figurative sense. But by the 1600s John Dryden was using “literally” to mean not “word for word” but as an intensifier: “my daily bread is literally implored”. (He meant he had to beg for food.) Then by 1769 you can find “literally” used figuratively:

“He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival; it is literally to feed among the lilies.” -Frances Brooke in The History of Emily Montague.

That usage is technically metaphoric, by the way, because Brooke is quoting the Song of Solomon in saying “…to feed among the lilies”. But the figurative use of “literally” is even plainer by 1801 in the book The Spirit of the Farmer’s Museum and Lay Preacher’s Gazette:

“He is, literally, made up of marechal powder, cravat, and bootees.” (Marechal powder was used on hair and wigs in that era)

And just to drive the point home that “literally” has also meant “figuratively” for centuries — and hasn’t been a mistake — leading authors including Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, James Joyce, and Vladimir Nabokov have used the word that way. 

Anything can be overused, of course, or even used badly. But there’s literally nothing amiss with using “literally” literally figuratively — that’s what it means.