The New Definition of Literally is Literally the Dumbest Thing Ever
By Bill Doyle
One of my biggest language pet peeves has always been the misuse of the word "literally". People misuse it to make it a synonym for "very" or "virtually", instead of its real definition, which is: actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy (dictionary.com).
Well, now the misusers are right, because Merriam-Webster, Google, and Cambridge have modified the entries for "literally" in their dictionaries to include "used to acknowledge something is not literally true but used for emphasis or to express strong feeling." Is that clear? Literally now means something is literally not true.