I'm sick up and fed with the misuse of the word "literally." Everywhere I turn, people are using the world "literally" as if it meant "figuratively." Salespeople are doing it, too.
"I am hungry enough to literally eat an entire cow" means you can eat an entire cow. Don't say that unless you can actually eat an entire cow.
"I am hungry enough to figuratively eat a cow" means you're very hungry, but you're acknowledging that you're exaggerating how hungry you are by including the reference to the cow. "I am hungry enough to eat a cow" means the same thing because most English speaking individuals understand that you're being figurative.
Saying to your girlfriend on the phone "I'm going to literally kill my sales manager" means you are going to take your fingers, wrap them tightly around your sales manager's throat, and squeeze very tightly for a significant length of time until all life has exited his body.
I do not recommend this. I suggest something less criminal and more literal, such as "I'm literally mad enough at my boss to consider going in there tomorrow and quitting." [Notice not only the absence of the reference to "literalness" but also the skillful inclusion of the word "consider" - this leaves an out for even the most dramatic and determined among us.]
"I literally threw up in my customer's face this afternoon" means you opened your mouth and transferred the contents of your stomach rapidly through your mouth via convulsive action of your diaphragm and other abdominal muscles to the facial region of your customer so she was enveloped in gastric matter of various textures, colors, and odors.
Although this may have literally happened at some point in the history of civilization, I have never seen it happen. So I'm guessing that anyone that would have said this had incorrectly included the word "literally" in their exclamation.
Saying "I literally burped in my customer's face this afternoon" might be more accurate, although unpleasant just the same. I recommend that you control all personal gastric urges in the future, especially when around customers - then you won't have to tell everybody in the breakroom about it while they're trying to enjoy their lunch.
If I hear one more misuse of the word "literal" by a salesperson, I'm literally going to die.
If you like this post (or don't) please click on "comments" below and share your comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, in the financial, real estate, and insurance markets, and other consumer-selling industries.
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