Are You Sure You Want to Say That?

In our culture today, words are ever changing. Every year dictionaries add more words to their database, often even up to a thousand words!

But with all these words, people tend to use them incorrectly or too often. Regrettably, there is one important word that this has happened to. “Literally” is often used as a crutch word or a filler word. Because of this misuse, the true meaning of the word has become neglected, and it has lost the significance that it once held.

Although people may think they sound intelligent when they use this word, literally ranks near the top of the list as one of the most overused and misused words.

Sadly, American culture accepts the use of crutch words as the norm. Crutch words are pointless sounds that people often use when they're trying to think of what they're going to say next. The most common of these words being, uhm, like, and er. These words are heard in every conversation, but they add nothing to it. The US has become so dependent on these crutch words that almost everyone, including reporters and even politicians use them.

Literally is one of these crutch words and is overused to almost no end. Strong and deep, the actual definition of this word, if understood correctly, should never be overused.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives the definition of the word literally as, “in a completely accurate way.”

Oblivious to this, people say, He literally died laughing or They literally bawled their eyes out.

The above sentences make no sense in light of the actual definition of literally. But that’s what those sentences LITERALLY mean!

“For something to be literal, it needs to be true, exact, or precise”. If someone was truly dying of laughter, they would need to go to the hospital! This kind of use is what leads me to believe that people aren't using literally according to its definition. Literally is a strong word, but, because of its overuse it has lost its true purpose anad meaning.

As with a lot of words in the English language, literally comes from the Latin word, "littera," which means "to the letter". So, considering the original meaning, if someone tried a flavor of pizza that was better than all the others, they would say, This is literally the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. But with the way literally is used today, the person actually means to explain that the pizza is pretty good. Much of the purpose of literally is lost when used in this way.

One of the worst things about using the word in this way is that there isn’t really any synonym for literally that means the same thing. The closest words are exactly and precisely. But saying This is exactly or precisely the best pizza I’ve ever eaten isn’t grammatically correct nor does it really convey what we are trying to say.

Literally is worth defending because there is no other word that carries quite the same meaning or significance. But, because of the overuse of the word and the lack of knowledge about the real definition, this word has lost much of its true purpose and significance.

English constantly morphs with the ebb and flow of society, but the word literally is one of the worst changes by far.

Although some may think that they sound scholarly or smart when they use the word literally, it has become so overused it is now labeled as a crutch word. Unfortunately, because it is a crutch word many no longer know its true meaning, and so it has lost its former glory.

It is up to Gen Z to use literally in the appropriate way, or it will lose its true definition… Literally!

Author Bio: Cameron Thomas is a student at Summit Christian College. One of his favorite things to do is make comical comments when people use the word literally incorrectly.