I Literally Hate This

One of the favorite catch phrases that I have heard everywhere (not just in the world of personal finance) is the statement:

I literally {fill in favorite annoying verb, e.g. hate} this …

In the immortal words of one of my favorite movie characters Indigo Montoya from the Princess Bride,

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”,
Indigo Montoya (The Princess Bride)

if we look at Dictionary.com and it’s definitions, I like this version of it:

actually, without exaggeration or inaccuracy: The city was literally destroyed.

and while this definition makes this phrase sound such a wonderful descriptive quip, it literally causes me to lose my lunch (I must have left it in my car, because I couldn’t find it anywhere).

What do I mean by the annoying use of this turn of phrase? Here are a few examples I have literally heard:

I literally lost my shirt on the stock market.
Funny, I don’t remember any investment house taking clothing as collateral or payment, so I think this quip is a little off target.
The Interest rates literally blew my mind!
Given that person still had their head on their shoulders and they were talking, again, I don’t think they grasp what they were really saying.
I got such a good deal, I literally pissed my banker off!
Really? Your banker urinated after you made that deal with him or her? Not really sure what a literal piss off would be.
The car salesman literally included his wife as part of the deal…
No, I am serious, this was an expression someone boasting about what a great deal they got said. I asked if she could drop by and do some laundry at my place, for some reason she never showed up.
This is literally your dumbest post ever
I cannot argue that point, it is pretty random