The overuse of the words "literally" and "surreal"

Have you ever come across a person who used a word in the wrong context or meaning multiple times in a conversation? Sometimes even misusing multiple words and their proper usage? Maybe even you have yourself? If you can at least concede that you have and remedy the problem (or maybe you already have), then consider yourself in the minority. These kinds of abuses of the English language are particularly common amongst the high school and college-aged youth. However, it's also prevalent among those in the entertainment industry to whom many in the younger generations look to and often emulate.

The two words that always get misused far too often are "literally" and "surreal". An example of such lunacy came to my attention while I was waiting for an appointment. The office only had entertainment genre magazines, so I explored a particular magazine article that had published an interview with the newest "pop-tart" who has her own T.V. show, concert tour, and a B-list former mullet-wearing celebrity father. In the interview, she was asked "what's the first thing you do when you get out of bed?". She replied, "well normally my mom or dad pours me some cereal and I'll listen to some music to get me going. But today I had to do it myself and it was really surreal!" Really? Making your own breakfast is surreal? Let's look at Webster's definition of surreal for a moment. Webster's defines surreal as: "marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream". Is making your cereal that much of a dream? Really? Now if the cereal had little dancing leprechauns coming out of the box, then I could at least see why the use of "surreal" might be applied.

The second of these overused words is "literally". I hear this particular verbal mangling on a daily basis it seems. One of my more memorable encounters with such a damaging misuse was in--of all places--a bookstore. I was browsing through the "Essays" section of the store when I overheard a conversation from a group of young girls. I couldn't tell if they were in high school or older, but they were in that range in any case. They were talking about what they did at lunch and one of them mentioned eating a "really good" sandwich from the cafeteria. Another replied with a similar sentiment but added "I literally sat down and ate the sandwich too". Maybe it's me but isn't literally sitting down to eat a sandwich self-explanatory? Can you metaphorically sit down and eat a sandwich? Come on ladies, you can do better than that. Here's Webster's definition: "in effect; actually". Would the sentence mean any less if you took literally out of it? NO! You don't need the word!

I oftent think that people who do misue these particular words do so because they don't know any other way to describe a situation. So if something seems like it could be surreal or literal, then they throw it in as if to sound more intelligent. Also, they probably see particular celebrities use those words often, and therefore do the same. My advice? Build a vocabulary and quit watching celebrities. Maybe even read a book! There are many other words to describe situations than literally or surreal, and if you want people to take what you are saying more seriously, I would suggest finding dropping the words all together unless absolutely needed. (End of Rant)