Everything about Literally
Word in the English language
Literally is an English adverb meaning "in a literal sense or manner" or an intensifier which strengthens the associated statement. It has been used as an intensifier in English for several centuries, though since the early 20th century it has been considered somewhat controversial by linguistic prescriptivists. The use of 'literally' as an intensifier is recognized as valid by most dictionaries of English and has been used by authors such as Mark Twain and James Joyce. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: LiterallyA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Perspectives on the insidious nature of pain metaphor: we literally need to change our metaphorsInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Tom Sawyer, DetectiveThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Confronting Prejudice (Literally): Reactions to Confrontations of Racial and Gender BiasCited 377 times
- Go sideways: Literal and figurative languageA closely related topic
- Go sideways: List of common false etymologies of English wordsA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
Adverb In a literal manner; exactly as stated, word for word.
Adverb Without overstatement or understatement, or false or misleading words.
Adverb With phrasings that might normally be used or understood as figurative: truly; not figuratively; not as an idiom or metaphor.
Adverb Draws attention to a pun or other wordplay involving an idiom.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Confronting Prejudice (Literally): Reactions to Confrontations of Racial and Gender Bias
Taking Fact-Checks Literally But Not Seriously? The Effects of Journalistic Fact-Checking on Factual Beliefs and Candidate Favorability
Us Over Here Versus Them Over There…Literally: Measuring Place Resentment in American Politics
Taking world cities literally: Marketing the city in a global space of flows
Literally Literacy: Table 1
Preparation of Literally Two-Dimensional Magnets
Literally Green Chemical Synthesis of Artemisinin from Plant Extracts
Self‐Immolative Linkers Literally Bridge Disulfide Chemistry and the Realm of Thiol‐Free Drugs
🆕 Influential since 2022
Perspectives on the insidious nature of pain metaphor: we literally need to change our metaphors
“I Was Literally Just Not Myself”: How Chronic Pain Changes Multiple Frames of Identity
“It has literally been a lifesaver”: the role of “knowing kinship” in supporting fat women to navigate medical fatphobia
Understanding metaphorical understanding (literally)
Science of forests and floods: The quantum leap forward needed, literally and metaphorically
📚 Books worth reading
Tom Sawyer, DetectiveMark Twain · 1897
Le fantôme de l'opéraGaston Leroux · 1911
My Cousin RachelDaphne du Maurier · 1900
The Mosquito CoastPaul Theroux, Robin Waterfield · 1981
Go, Dog. Go!P. D. Eastman · 1961
Watcher in the ShadowsGeoffrey Household · 1960
The Princess DiariesMeg Cabot · 2000
A moreninhaJoaquim Manuel de Macedo · 1924
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
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