You’re right, Chris, ‘literally’ is misused extremely often today. I had thought about including it in this article but then I realized the definition you and I both detest is now listed in the Oxford English Dictionary:

“Colloquial. Used to indicate that some (frequently conventional) metaphorical or hyperbolical expression is to be taken in the strongest admissible sense: ‘virtually, as good as’; (also) ‘completely, utterly, absolutely’. Now one of the most common uses, although often considered irregular in standard English since it reverses the original sense of literally (‘not figuratively or metaphorically’).”

Honestly, I wasn’t too keen on facing the potential backlash of people who would criticize my objection by stressing to me that their (colloquial) definition can be found in the dictionary, and so I didn’t list it here.

Thanks for reading and commenting on the piece, I appreciate it :)