What the heck is up with the word literally? I cannot go twenty-four hours without hearing or reading it once, and usually it is far more frequent an occurrence than that. What has happened to us? Are we so jaded, so accustomed to hyperbole that it has become our default platform of speech? Have we gotten so used to not believing what people say, or so incapable of saying what we mean, that when we do manage to slip into the genuine we have to herald the moment by using the word literally so our audience will understand and take note?
This irks me.
