Plainly Speaking

I've been getting more and more frustrated by the constant misuse of the word 'literally' in TV programmes, particularly from broadcasters and presenters who should know better. The worst offenders would appear to be presenters of shopping channels.  Is it their excitement and enthusiasm for a particular product that is responsible for their gaffe or just a basic lacking in knowledge of the English language?  I found the following on a great site which reassures me that I'm not the only person who finds this word's misuse particularly annoying:

Like “incredible,” “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.

Thanks to Brian's Errors Site for the above.

You wouldn't think it possible but I have actually heard a presenter say "You literally just open this...".   It's not only misused, it's also overused.  Several times in the space of a few sentences is not uncommon.  Now my life is not so sad that I sit and watch TV all day counting the use of the word 'literally', but it is something that I feel quite strongly about.  And don't get me started about bad spelling!  In this computer age where we have software that checks our grammar and spelling we have become lazy in our use of the English language.  That's sad.  Such technology has certainly made our lives easier, but at what cost?