drspecial

"There are literally billions of atoms in my own hand."
That sounds like an exaggeration, but it's not. That's just the wonder of science.

“Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life's blood. But everyone has something to give.”
Barbara Bush, not surprisingly, has a better knowledge of the English language than her most famous son. This is actually an excellent example. People often speak of giving their life's blood, but mean it figuratively, However, if you are a soldier and get shot, or even more literally, donate blood to the Red Cross, then you do literally give your life's blood. If you just work hard but the red stuff never spills, you may claim to give your life's blood, but only figuratively.

Recently I heard an NPR journalist ask in an interview with someone in a war zone, "So their lives are literally on the line?" The response was an enthusiastic "Yes!" Of course, he should have said, "No, but they are in great danger." For it to be literally true, there would have to be an actual line on the ground, and the people would stand on it. If you think I'm nitpicking, you're missing the point. That's the only meaning for the word – exactly what is said, without figurative language.

“It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words.”
Here George Orwell is making it clear how important words are. Normally, you'd think he was exaggerating, or speaking metaphorically. But his point is that language is incredibly important: if you don't have (or use!) the right words, you can't even think the ideas. In 1984 that was part of Big Brother's thought control, but he's written essays about it too. It's not surprising that he would use the word correctly. He's also written about people using words automatically, without actually knowing what they mean. He's my homey. ;-)

“One popular new plastic surgery technique is called lip grafting, or 'fat recycling' wherein fat cells are removed from one part of your body that is too large, such as your buttocks, and injected into your lips; people will then be literally kissing ass.”
Dave Barry nails it with this one. "Kissing ass" is almost always meant figuratively. Not so here. Funny guy.

“Somebody said to me, ''But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.'' That's a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, 'Now, let's write a swimming pool.'”
Leave it to Paul McCartney to get it half-right. Now, they didn't literally "write a swimming pool", unless they wrote those words on the page. However, they probably did literally SAY those words. For this exercise, I'm not impressed. Those guys made a lot of money though; I like the idea. (But they didn't literally make money, right? Leave that to the Treasury.)

“Romanticism is not just a mode; it literally eats into every life. Women will never get rid of just waiting for the right man.”
Anita Brookner gets an F. An English writer -- ha! It is not even physically possible for an abstraction to eat. Just remove "literally", and it's a perfectly fine quotation. Whether or not you agree with it...

"Anybody could say anything they want about me, and it literally never penetrates my skin."
Ron White uses it correctly, but it falls under category #2. We know it doesn't break his epidermus. The more important part is the figurative message.

"I don't know how this company got the name National Shakespeare Company, because it was literally like retards employing retards."
Rob Corddry wins Least PC award for this blog. "Literally like"  sums up his complete lack of understanding. His use of simili defeats the use of  "literally", and vice versa. Boooo!

Joe Biden has a terrible track record, in striking contrast to his better-spoken boss.

There are far too many examples.

My advice is to avoid the word altogether. If you use it wrongly, you're ignorant or sloppy. If you use it correctly, chances are that it's self-evident, and therefore redundant. There are very few instances when it actually helps your message.