litdumb2 wrote:
knox harrington wrote:
I very much doubt that. If native speakers don't know what the word literally literally means, using it awkwardly would literally be the least of their problems.
Seriously? Native speakers use poor grammar and words incorrectly all the time. You give Americans, at least, far too much credit. Ever seen the average American try to locate India or Australia on a map? One need not be an insufferable snob to know that there are a LOT of really ignorant people in this country. Now, not knowing what "literally" means is obviously not high on the importance list, but.....its common incorrect usage is mostly ignorance, plain and simple.
Your entire point of view is based on the idea that at some point a language arrives at its final correct form, and any further deviation or evolution is incorrect. The technology to actual codify "rules" and "definitions," ie writing, has only been around for a small fraction of the time that language has existed. Dictionaries and grammar guides are references which describe current usage and norms. When usage and norms change, as they always have and always will, the dictionaries and grammar guides change as well. So if some Americans are more familiar with the hyperbolic usage of literally, it doesn't make them stupid, it just reflects how that word is used in their social circles. "Cleave" can mean both to split apart or to stick fast to, but I wouldn't consider someone stupid for not being familiar with the less common usage.
TL;DR language isn't math. The "rules" to the extent that they even exist, are completely subjective and context dependent. Language survived for 100,000 years before anyone invented writing, let alone create a dictionary. Get over it.