depends where you lie on the descriptivist - prescriptivist spectrum but some these days say it’s acceptable to use “literally” as an intensifier and there are historical examples from famous writers to back that up.
Yeah, I get what you’re saying. If enough people want “literally” to function that way, it doesn’t have to get approved by anyone, it just starts functioning that way.
It still bothers me though.
Another weird one is “peruse”. I don’t think I had ever heard anyone use that word used correctly for my entire life.
I used to think it meant to just quickly skim something over. Turns out it means the
exact opposite.
pe·ruse
/pəˈro͞oz/Submit
verbFORMAL
read (something), typically in a thorough or careful way.
"he has spent countless hours in libraries perusing art history books and catalogues"
examine carefully or at length.
"Laura perused a Caravaggio"
synonyms: read, study, scrutinize, inspect, examine, wade through, look through; More
How the hell did it get fucked up that bad?