Possible Duplicate:
“Literally” and “Decimate” misuse
I have seen a lot of backlash in internet media against people using the word literally to mean something not literal.
Something like "he was literally as big as a house" to mean someone was very big
I think this comic sums up the anti literal movement well
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally
Is this actually grammatically incorrect or can the word "literally" be a hyperbole strengthening a metaphor?
Best Answer
My Webster's defines hyperbole as
So it would seem that using literally as a hyperbolic expression would be to negate its sense of non-literalness.