The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a late-night Saturday memo, also threatened to impose financial penalties on states that did not comply with the government's new orders.
Because the dictionary covers the practical usage, and the misuse is as common as the actual use. The dictionary definition for litterally includes the formal “in a way that uses the ordinary or primary meaning of a term or expression” and the informal that means the exact opposite “statement or description that is not literally true or possible”
I find it kind of ironic to say it’s actual definition for literally includes effectively or it could also mean “not literally”
You gotta realize even the dictionary has given up on this one…
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally
Because the dictionary covers the practical usage, and the misuse is as common as the actual use. The dictionary definition for litterally includes the formal “in a way that uses the ordinary or primary meaning of a term or expression” and the informal that means the exact opposite “statement or description that is not literally true or possible”
I find it kind of ironic to say it’s actual definition for literally includes effectively or it could also mean “not literally”
Merriam Webster hasn’t been the academic standard for decades. The Oxford one did not capitulate to trends.
Edit to add: https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=Literally