ShmoopTube

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Literally, a la Shmoop. Lots of people like to have fun with the word

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“literally”. They throw it around like a baseball or a frisbee...

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...never realizing that the word doesn't mean what they think it means.

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“Literally” is defined as “in a literal sense”.

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Need a shorter definition? “Literally” means “actually”...

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…“exactly”...

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…“for realz”. Here are some examples. The car literally

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exploded when Toby turned the key in the ignition.

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The fuzz literally showed up two minutes later...

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...but there was literally nothing they could do.

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Um, yeah, because you can't unscramble an egg.

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Here's how not to use the word “literally” in everyday conversation...

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...or against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

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You might want to say, “Cindy's head literally exploded when she found out Bob was cheating

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on her.”

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But you don't mean that Cindy's head actually blew up.

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You just mean that she was really, really angry at Bob, the two-timing twit.

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We understand the temptation to use the word “literally” to spice up a sentence. All

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the other kids are doing it, after all.

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However, using “literally” as conversational cayenne is a big grammar no-no.

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Just ask Vizzini. <<vuh-zee-nee>>

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