You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

"No, I'm serious. He literally died laughing."

"He really died?"

"No, he died laughing. He was like, laughing SO hard."

If you misuse the word "literally," it makes me want to kill you. Not literally.

I've been thinking of writing about this for a long time, ever since I overheard someone say "I laughed so hard, I literally peed my pants." I suppose that this person could have been using "literally" in the proper way, and if she was, I feel both proud and ashamed. I'm proud that she knows the correct usage of the word; I'm ashamed that I know someone who wets her pants. She was probably very embarrassed.

Here's the thing: we've been butchering the word "literally" for so long, it is becoming acceptable (to everyone except for the insufferable pedants like me I suppose) to use it as an intensifier. Check this out (from dictionary.com's entry on "literally"):

Usage note: Since the early 20th century, literally has been widely used as an intensifier meaning “in effect, virtually,” a sense that contradicts the earlier meaning “actually, without exaggeration”: The senator was literally buried alive in the Iowa primaries. The parties were literally trading horses in an effort to reach a compromise. The use is often criticized; nevertheless, it appears in all but the most carefully edited writing. Although this use of literally irritates some, it probably neither distorts nor enhances the intended meaning of the sentences in which it occurs.

They are clearly wrong. This misuse of the word "literally" is problematic in a very obvious way; in other words, the intended meaning of the sentence "He was caught with his pants down" is VERY MUCH distorted when the word "literally" is added, thus: "He was literally caught with his pants down." Again, this is either an extremely embarrassing situation (possibly illegal), or it is an inappropriate way to say that this man was caught off guard (as the idiom "caught with his pants down" is intended to mean, sans "literally"). What? You'd like another example? OK. If your friend is so hungry that she could "literally eat a horse," you have to discern whether she has (a) gone insane, (b) gotten in touch with her inner cave woman, or (c) finally revealed to you that she is an idiot.

Luckily (for me and for the word "literally"), I'm not the only one who is disheartened by the constant misuse of this word. Oh, yes, my friends. There is a handy-dandy blog all about the use and abuse of the word literally! And this is one of my favorite posts, especially because of the illustration they provided. Enjoy, fellow pedants.