Comment by iso1631
6 days ago
literally has had two meanings for decades, maybe centuries
1) Literally Literally
2) Figuratively
It's semantic bleaching
6 days ago
literally has had two meanings for decades, maybe centuries
1) Literally Literally
2) Figuratively
It's semantic bleaching
Not sure why you're downvoted. People have literally been using literally both ways for at at least 25 years by my own observational record.
You know, "I could literally eat a horse." in which it is clearly understood that the speaker is not claiming that they could physically fit a horse inside their stomache.
Literally literally didn't mean literally even when it meant literally and not figuratively
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/very-actually-and-ot...
Except in this case e.g. Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon actually did literally piss on the audience, so using the word literally to mean "not literally" is confusing because it's not obviously some exaggeration (and considering the timelines, the original comment may have been referring to a literal event but confusing who did it).