All 7 Uses of

literally

in

Wonder, by R.J. Palacio

I'm not exaggerating when I say this, but my heart literally started beating like I'd just run the longest race in the world.
p. 20.9

literally = actually (not an exaggeration)

She got really nervous and turned pale and literally broke into a sweat within a minute, and then she came up with some lame excuse about really having to go to the bathroom.
p. 71.4

What I remember the most from the day Grans died is Mom literally crumpling to the floor in slow, heaving sobs, holding her stomach like someone had just punched her.
p. 87.1

Anyway, about five minutes after I got there, Henry and Savanna were standing next to me, literally hovering over me.
p. 122.6 *

literally = so much it was like

I made a quick scan of the screen and my eyes literally started blurring.
p. 181.9

literally = actually (not an exaggeration)

It was so dark now we literally couldn't see ten steps ahead of us as we walked toward the woods.
p. 263.7 *

We literally had to hold on to each other's shirts and walk in single file so we wouldn't trip over one another.
p. 271.1

Definitions:

(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)
(2) (literally as in: literally at death's door)
an intensifier (to intensify what is said -- especially a metaphor)

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.
(3) (literal as in: a literal translation)
word for word
(4) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
Less common and more specific meanings of literal include:
- an earlier or original meaning of a word -- as in "In Japanese the literal meaning of ronin was a 'samurai without a master,' but it is now used to describe a student who did not pass the entrance exam and is without a school."
- lacking imagination -- as in "She has a literal mind."
- a fixed or hard-coded value in a computer program -- as in "Find every instance of the literal in the source code."
- related to letters -- as in "In algebra we use literal notation as when 'x' represents a value."