All 27 Uses of
literally
in
The Da Vinci Code
- He is the author of numerous books: The Symbology of Secret Sects, The Art of the Illuminati, The Lost Language of Ideograms, and when I say he wrote the book on Religious Iconology, I mean that quite literally.
Chpt 1 (definition 1) *literally = actually (not figuratively; not an exaggeration)
- Most tourists mistranslated Jardins des Tuileries as relating to the thousands of tulips that bloomed here, but Tuileries was actually a literal reference to something far less romantic.†
Chpt 3 (definition 1)
- These were the gardens in which Claude Monet had experimented with form and color, and literally inspired the birth of the Impressionist movement.
Chpt 3 (definition 2)literally = an intensifier (to intensify what is said)
- As president-general of Opus Dei, Bishop Aringarosa had spent the last decade of his life spreading the message of "God's Work"—literally, Opus Dei.
Chpt 5 (definition 1)literally = actually (not figuratively; not an exaggeration)
- "Pagans" were literally unindoctrinated country-folk who clung to the old, rural religions of Nature worship.
Chpt 6 (definition 1)
- Saunière had left a literal reference to the devil.†
Chpt 8 (definition 1)
- He was the first to show that the human body is literally made of building blocks whose proportional ratios always equal PHI.
Chpt 19-20 (definition 1)literally = actually (not figuratively; not an exaggeration)
- Literally, the very center of the Jewish faith.†
Chpt 37-38 (definition 1)
- Holy Grail is the literal meaning of Sangreal.
Chpt 37-38 (definition 3)literal = word for word
- No, that's the literal translation.
Chpt 47-48 (definition 3)
- Grail seekers, familiar with the Priory's history of cryptic double-talk, had concluded la clef de voûte was a literal keystone—an architectural wedge—an engraved, encrypted stone, inserted into a vaulted archway in a church.
Chpt 47-48 (definition 1)literal = actual (not figurative)
- Many scholars claim that the early Church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power.
Chpt 55-56 (definition 2) *literally = an intensifier (to intensify what is said)
- The Grail is literally the ancient symbol for womanhood, and the Holy Grail represents the sacred feminine and the goddess, which of course has now been lost, virtually eliminated by the Church.
Chpt 55-56 (definition 2)
- As any Aramaic scholar will tell you, the word companion, in those days, literally meant spouse.
Chpt 57-58 (definition 3)literally = in a manner that is word for word
- "Quite literally," Teabing said.†
Chpt 57-58 (definition 1)
- Sang Real literally meant Royal Blood.
Chpt 57-58 (definition 3) *literally = in a manner that is word for word
- The quest for the Holy Grail is literally the quest to kneel before the bones of Mary Magdalene.†
Chpt 59-60 (definition 1)
- "I think the headstone references a literal stone head," Langdon explained, savoring the familiar excitement of academic breakthrough.
Chpt 75-76 (definition 1)literal = actual (not figurative)
- Quite literally!†
Chpt 77-78 (definition 1)
- Sophia literally means wisdom in Greek.
Chpt 77-78 (definition 3)literally = in a manner that is word for word
- The root of your name, Sophie, is literally a 'word of wisdom.'
Chpt 77-78 (definition 3)
- The problems arise when we begin to believe literally in our own metaphors.
Chpt 81-82 (definition 1)literally = actually (not figuratively; not an exaggeration)
- Or that Jesus was not born of a literal virgin birth?
Chpt 81-82 (definition 1)literal = actual (not figurative)
- My friends who are devout Christians definitely believe that Christ literally walked on water, literally turned water into wine, and was born of a literal virgin birth.
Chpt 81-82 (definition 1)literally = actually (not figuratively; not an exaggeration)
- My friends who are devout Christians definitely believe that Christ literally walked on water, literally turned water into wine, and was born of a literal virgin birth.
Chpt 81-82 (definition 1)
- My friends who are devout Christians definitely believe that Christ literally walked on water, literally turned water into wine, and was born of a literal virgin birth.
Chpt 81-82 (definition 1)literal = actual (not figurative)
- A literal tourist trap, one of Langdon's befuddled colleagues had called it.†
Chpt 97-98 (definition 1)
Definitions:
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(1) (literally as in: literally--not figuratively) actually true using the basic meaning of the words (not an exaggeration, metaphor, or other type of figurative speech)
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(2) (literally as in: literally at death's door) an intensifier (to intensify what is said -- especially a metaphor)editor's notes: Since literally can mean actually true, but can also be used to intensify a metaphor, the reader has to use context to know what the word means.
For example, if you read "She stabbed him in the back," you would probably assume she betrayed him. But if you read it in a murder mystery where the victim was stabbed, you might assume you were being told that she actually stabbed him.
Because confusion can arise from this kind of usage, many authorities discourage using literally to intensify a metaphor--especially in formal usage.
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(3) (literal as in: a literal translation) word for word