Jonathan Ross on the incorrect use of "literally" - Room 101: Series 4 Episode 5 Preview - BBC One

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Watch the BBC first on iPlayer 👉 bbc.in/iPlayer-Home Programme website: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0516zch Frank Skinner discusses Jonathan Ross' dislike of people misusing the word 'literally'.
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[@tomimpala]

"Machines at the gym literally killed me the other day" "If only they had"

[@Naturelady-rf5zx]

How can they kill you if you are alive to comment and talk.

[@Smorgasvord]

@@Naturelady-rf5zx that's the point

[@user-60267]

His sympathy for Britney has aged well. 👏🏽👏🏽

[@yournamehere6002]

It aged perfectly

[@KishoreShenoy1994]

I literally told my father off. I said to him, "Off".

[@XNY556-Apple]

"Off" as in "sod off?"

[@davidheaney4430]

How dare you!!

[@ChristopherMason19570202]

The word 'LITERALLY' would be unnecessary if we would simply say what we meant, and didn't try to fluff our language up with a lot of pointless hyperbole.

[@tjfSIM]

That is a really good point. I wonder if other languages have an equivalent of this word, or if it's just not needed outside the English language. Modern spoken English is full of metaphors, proverbs and hyperbole, almost to the point that people are left to derive the true meaning of a sentence from what was implied rather than said.

[@sherylhamaty3250]

They use they word “literally” as a fad...it’s a fad for the millennials... expand your vocabulary people.

[@rb93077039]

Talking of which, another example is 'George Clarke's Amazing Spaces'. The overuse of superlatives on that show is "literally unbelievable!" (are you sure that's what you mean, George?), and with their use of cliches, "they've literally taken things to a whole new level!"

[@clothilde1623]

If we abandoned metaphors, similes, hyperbole, etc., then our language would be dull and joyless indeed. Imagine what song lyrics would be like, and poetry would be obsolete.

[@Reu8enofleon]

the word 'literally' literally doesn't mean literally anymore. I'm sorry but that is figuratively insane.

[@rogueuniversities6866]

You're wrong

[@darkeyezs]

metaphorically

The word "literally" literally still means what it meant for 200 years. It still has both meanings it basically always had.

[@BaddaBigBoom]

I have a new one as the "literally"/"figuratively" annoyance is SO 'yesterday': "Antisocial" vs "Unsociable" eg. "Hey Dave, don't be antisocial, come to the pub!" Unsociable=not going to the pub/Antisocial=setting fire to the pub.

[@mr.ursugan7142]

What if you're setting fire to the pub with your mates?

[@BaddaBigBoom]

@@mr.ursugan7142 Haha, that would be sociably antisocial ;-)

[@junbh2]

I kind of agree with Jonathan. A lot of times I don't mind when words change their meaning, but I can't think of another good word to say what 'literally' means (I mean what it's 'supposed' to mean) and it's a really useful word to have. If literally stops meaning literally, then how do we express the idea? Do we invent a new word? I suppose we could say 'non-metaphorically' or 'non-figuratively' but those seem long and awkward compared to 'literally'. Plus I'm so used to using literally when I mean literally, so it would be annoying to have to stop and try to think of a different word, or to have to explain what I mean every time.

[@tgi321]

junbh2 Yeah; there are people who are guilty of this crime (Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, for examples). It just winds me up.

[@yesdcotchin]

junbh2 'actually' works sometimes

[@johnnycastellanetta7183]

"Literally" must be preserved with its actual meaning, which is very specific. "Like" is the other one that irritates me to no end. My wife watches the Batchelor/Batchelorette and I have to leave the room immediately due to the gratuitous use of "like". 🤢

"Literally" literally means both. Nobody took away its "correct" meaning. But it means two things. Like plenty other words do. Oh, and you nincompoops lost that -fight- war literally over two hundred years ago. (Now, which meaning was that last "literally" here? No, it wasn't the "correct" one. Because it never is.)

[@markm7821]

The biggest problem with "literally" losing its meaning is that people now use it to mean its exact opposite ("metaphorically", or not physically). And they're doing that because they're (0:54) stupid, not because they're utilizing it in a new or interesting way. I'm guilty of using it sort of improperly e.g. "I literally just got here." Which is superfluous because "I metaphorically just got here" doesn't make any sense, HOWEVER it's not outright incorrect based on the definition of the word. I think using "literally" for emphasis is okay and a natural evolution of the word, as long as it doesn't lose its actual useful meaning.

[@andrewcollin1978]

I remember someone telling me about a horror film they'd seen which included the sentence "I literally shat myself".

[@DonoVideoProductions]

Well, that COULD have been true...

[@rhysepoos]

The thing about the word 'literally' is that it now has no meaning. In the example of Michael Owen literally being a greyhound, you could take out the word 'literally', and the meaning of the sentence would be exactly the same. So idiots have taken a very useful word, and by misusing it, have turned it into a completely useless word.

[@rogueuniversities6866]

Actually, you're wrong.

[@Bruno_Noobador]

I literally replied to a comment that was more than 5 years old

[@vets923]

It is being misused, because people lack knowledge.

[@paulberks5609]

I think this is Jonathan's point. 🙄

@@vets923 The only people who lack knowledge is you doofuses.

[@SpecialBrewCan]

People who misuse the word literal literally makes my brain somersault, turn green, explode, and ooze out of my ears.

[@yesdcotchin]

Darrell Burnett it's officially not misuse anymore I'm afraid

[@lonewolf115]

You should have changed ears to eyes.. that's a picture!

[@jacksonjacob7791]

Its find it really annoying too. Most of the time its unnecessary to even use the word in a sentence.

[@GravesRWFiA]

Oh thank you, this is one of my pet peeves in language and i'll go on the attack if i hear some half wit using it. "OMG I'm literally dying here!" "Quick dial 911, maybe we can save you."

[@tommymiller6160]

👏👏👏

[@DonoVideoProductions]

No. No. Don't try to save them.

[@cjknotty]

I'm with Jonathan on Ross!!

[@junbh2]

Someone asked what literally means and how to use it 'right', well, if you say something is 'literally' something, it means it's word for word exactly what you're saying, you're not exaggerating, you're not using a figure of speech, you're not saying something imaginative (literally is the opposite of 'figuratively'). Like if someone is 'literally dying' it means they are about to die, not that they're feeling bad or laughing hard or something, it means they're about to die, like they have terminal cancer or something. If someone weighs 'literally' 1000 lbs it means they actually do weigh as much as a car, i.e., literally means you're specifically saying that it's NOT that they just weigh a lot or that you're trying to say they're fat in a funny way. So it gets really weird if someone says 'literally' in a situation where it's obvious they mean the exact OPPOSITE of literally. Then why use that word when you mean exactly the opposite? (It's like if I said 'that piece of wood was so cold that I was afraid it would catch fire' - it's confusing, and then the next time you hear 'cold' when it isn't as obvious they mean 'hot', then you don't know which way they mean it). Of course some people say we should just accept that now it's sometimes used to just mean 'very' and maybe it isn't that important, and maybe they're even right, but if you want to understand what the word exactly means and what people are talking about, well that's what.

[@Misteryowl]

All you need to do now is learn the comma splice and you'd have a more substantial argument.

[@Misteryowl]

Like.

[@Cashback13]

My sides were LITERALLY splitting with laughter at the Jamie Redknapp bit!

[@clothilde1623]

I hope you sought medical attention.

[@DonoVideoProductions]

That must have been a mess to clean up. Not to mention painful.

[@carswithsean7967]

Johnathan Ross is such an intelligent person plays around on camera and I think a lot of people don’t realise just how clever he is.

[@hoebywan]

You don't have to be so smart to understand what 'literally' means. However you do have to be pretty dumb to think that you do.

[@carswithsean7967]

@@hoebywan I agree with this but I still think he is more intelligent then a lot of people actually realise

[@hoebywan]

@@carswithsean7967 Smart people understand he is playing a version of himself. Everyone else is supposed to be fooled.

[@JM59600]

'Shabby equipment [not tools] always deteriorating' is from TS Eliot not Ezra Pound.

[@KittyxGrimm]

THANK YOU!

[@Lapusso650]

Also, it's weird to say "humbling" when you mean honored. Which is the opposite of humbling. *actor wins an Oscar* "This is so humbling"!

[@YaamFel]

The dictionary definition if "literally" niw includes a secobdary definition which is literally "Not literally, figuratively"

[@jessicalee333]

Not now (and definitely not "niw"). Always. It has always had that "secobdary" definition.

[@djedd23]

literally?

[@marcuscross8051]

From now on, I think all words should only have one meaning, to avoid confusion. Also, there should only be one word to describe each meaning. Or, to put it another way: From today forward, I judge that entire words must exclusively have singular definitions, to avert bewilderment. Likewise, there ought to exclusively exist a single word to represent each connotation.

[@marcuscross8051]

That would be a funny sight, if he opened his mouth and arse gravy came out.

​@@marcuscross8051 Yes, death to all wordplay! So confusing!

[@hootsmon]

Good points everyone here....Along with LITERALLY ,the contradictory : AT THE END OF THE DAY... not every morning brings you sunshine...or BASICALLY , there's no answer to that.....

[@DarkEagle-vx9hd]

This dude's my hero!

[@grahammills8733]

Just this morning on The Andrew Marr Show, Mairead McGuiness (Irish Vice President of European Commission) said that this last year “the world has literally stopped turning”.

[@feloniousmonk321]

Completely agree with this one.

[@jd899]

The second Jamie Redknapp comment was brilliant

[@mr.ursugan7142]

Child birth is hereditary. If your parents didnt have children, chances are, you wont either

[@11UncleBooker22]

" He was literally holding the crowd in his hands." .... said by a candidate Obama supporter after a campaign speech 2008.

[@JasmineSurrealVideos]

I literally (lol) lived round the corner from him for a year in Hampstead Garden Suburb, and I saw him once and he said ello. I said hello back. Totally boring story but there you go. Seemed quite a nice bloke, easy going. Edit-he sort of looks like Nic Cage which is weird.

[@lolzaklol]

If your daughter describes her boyfriend as "spicy" then maybe they should get themselves checked at the clinic

[@danieldravot341]

When I hear someone say, “That’s the most unique act in show business” I want to scream, and beat them about the head and shoulders. There are no degrees of uniqueness as it is an absolute. This error appears most frequently in news reports . . .

[@ryanbonner25]

im with ya wossy

[@Naturelady-rf5zx]

I hate the misuse of like and literally. They just won’t be told or corrected. It sounds uneducated, ridiculous and lazy. Let them go on sounding thick. I always think of Henry Higgins why can’t the English. I am trying to rewrite for like and literally.

[@mr.ursugan7142]

Im literally in room 101 rn this is so cool

[@sfshinz]

Wight on, Wossie!

[@KhanivoreQniba]

Add basically to the list.

[@johndillon5870]

I disagree with Jonathan and Frank on this. I think the usage of 'literally', as in 'I literally died laughing' is grammatically correct and appropriate usage. The same applies to the usage of 'like'. In the typical situation of young people in their group, joking and conversing informally, what is inferred and clearly understood is: 'it was AS IF I literally died laughing'. So why omit the 'as if'? Because it is understood in the social situation. The speaker is talking to an intended audience who will clearly understand the 'as if' meaning. What is understood is that the speaker was so amused that it was, say, difficult to breathe and thus akin to almost dying. The speaker is not expecting the words, delivered orally, to be written down and subsequently read literally by old fogeys like Johnathan and Frank, for a laugh, completely out of context. Johnathan and Frank are not part of the speaker's 'in-group', they are effectively eavesdropping. It's like they are gate-crashing a conversation, interrupting the fun of the anecdote and saying: you can't be happy like that, leaving out words, because that is not the way I speak with my own 'in-group' in other conversations. So, why use 'literally' at all? It is used for emphasis, to exaggerate for effect. As Frank should know, many comedians use this technique in their story-telling and acting out. Yes, the speaker may have mis-judged the audience and spoken with an inappropriate level of informality. But if these words annoy you, ask yourself the question: should you be listening to this conversation at all?

[@ryanname2503]

How about actually trying to justify how the word literally makes sense to say about something that ISN'T literal?

[@meatballsub8788]

@You Are Spicy means bean burger

[@chijindu2002]

I'm Nigerian too 🇳🇬

[@wayne20uk]

Same as the idiots who say "im dead" or "crying". One thing that bugs me is when youtubers beg for likes at the start of videos! Its there as a tool if you LIKED it, not to generate virtual ego points

[@AlexanderEdoh2013]

Spicy is a new word for controversial. e.g. Spicy tweet = controversial tweet.

[@adiskulin1033]

Literally, like and obvious.

[@ChristopherMason19570202]

The informal usage of 'Bad' literally means 'Good'. The informal usage of 'literally' literally means 'figuratively'. There is presently, in the English vernacular, no emphatic way of referring to reality, other than to omit all modifiers, and pray the listener is not an idiot.

[@josephamitrano6957]

it's not about informal, let's be honest, these people don't know what literally means, they think it's a way of stressing something, like saying "really" that's exactly what they think they are saying "really" people who use "bad" meaning good, know that bad means bad and good means good. it's just slang. it came from the 90s where younger people started for some reason to use negative words to say something was good. These people using literally don't know what it means, they think it's a way of stressing how they serious they are. when they say "i'm literally angry" they want to say "i'm really angry"

No, you can use literally, and use context. If your listener is an idiot, then you've lost anyway. Context. It's what language (and thus, communication) absolutely and *LITERALLY* relies on.

@@josephamitrano6957 "I'm literally angry" is a great example… but not for the misuse. Obviously.

[@birgerhalvorsen8550]

In order to use literally as a joke, you need to understand what it literally means.

[@fuckamericanidiot]

This literally had me in stitches! It's so true!

[@Kodlaken]

+Gluemonkey Oh my god what happened? Did you laugh so hard you fell off your chair and fell out your window and down 30 flights of stairs?

[@fuckamericanidiot]

I literally can't read.

[@michaelkenny4124]

I laughed so hard at this I literally shit myself.

[@TheEggplantThatAteChicago]

Isn't it ironic?

[@patricksmith5154]

for me it has to be when I hear someone pronounce a word with an 's' at the end....for example, yous (you) . Annoyingly its getting more and more frequent. ....

[@ericlarue8010]

There are two forms of speach, literal or figurative. Literal does mean actually. Its means not figuratively. The meaning of this word has been lost.

[@jrh7178]

Tbh, one of the most annoying words in the whole English language, especially since how overused it is nowadays.

[@7Z-t]

What about "really"?

[@dingopisscreek]

or as he says 'literwally'

[@joshrogan9854]

I saw a YT comment recently "I literally died when......."

[@maltefiebig9673]

So if he said "I died when . . ." you would accept it, since he is literally dead, right?

[@faaiz2785]

@@maltefiebig9673 Yes, they don't need to use literally. Just saying "I died when..." indicates it is only a figurative speech.

[@maltefiebig9673]

@@faaiz2785 No, it literally doesn't, that's the whole point.

[@Maxbev14]

Litewally

[@goonigoogoo5868]

watch a Jessy James interview. this guy says the word "LIKE," 82 times in 3 minutes . yes I counted .

[@fellaf8978]

Just use "almost like..." instead of taking another word hostage.

[@goonigoogoo5868]

it has become a filler word. for people who have a poor knowledge of their own English language . "like", is another one . just filler words like um, uhhh, err. . it is used as a pause in sentence while the person searches a word to say . very poor English skills and horrible to listen to.

[@jockkardashian.9407]

Literally is the new "like".

[@redeyestones3738]

Also, nobody says other words in America the same way British ppl do, but there's a trend of ppl in America using literally incorrectly, and on top of that they're pronouncing it as litchraly. We sat parental, not parentch. I don't get it.

[@kamurotetsu4860]

He was literally right about this

[@frankgreenfield7206]

Spicy is not new

[@lythsian]

She's figuratively on a roller coaster to hell doesn't have the same punch, but yeah I do agree with this one. I'm sure it's Americans trying to sound intelligent and misunderstanding how to go about it. Irregardless is another one that gets my goat.

[@DustinMWeber]

It's not just Americans, I'm afraid. Many an English speaker, no matter which country he/she hails (England, Scotland, Canada, etc.) who uses the word "literally" as described in the video above is guilty of this idiocy.

[@shrimpoffthebarbie]

Literally has been used for a long long time in both ways. So Ross is literally wrong.

[@yournamehere6002]

Yeah, it's been used rightly and wrongly. Just more so wrongly or unnecessarily now.

[@kashgarinn]

The meaning of literally though has evolved from its origin.. it originally meant that something was to be taken as it was written down, like a contract, or a law, or scripture. The current meaning of something happening in reality could easily be given back to ‘in reality’ like: ‘in reality Smeichel Sr. is Smeichels Jr father’ Given how much bullshit has been written down, literal sources are not as authentic as they have been, and “in reality”, there should be a difference between what’s written down and what’s real

[@rogueuniversities6866]

Wrong

[@kingpuppo5880]

No

[@highestsettings]

It's exaggeration.

[@sexobscura]

there's literally no literal use of literally being literal

You are just absolutely entirely wrong.

[@luf4rall]

So he has a problem with hyperbolic language.

[@tjfSIM]

+luf4rall No, he has a problem with incorrect use of language.

[@junbh2]

Using literally to mean non-literally isn't hyperbole, though. It's not an exaggeration - it's an opposite.

[@tjfSIM]

Yes, it's not an exaggeration (you cannot exaggerate the literality of something, anymore than you can exaggerate its uniqueness) I think its use in this sense is an attempted qualification of an exaggeration - in other words someone might think that by saying it's 'literally raining cats and dogs' makes the exaggeration sound more credible or fantastic? 'Literally' is one of those words that was literally bound to be misused! :)

[@pauldockree9915]

It was literally Michael Vaughan? I have been away too long. Real lovers of Cricket and not "crickets"! My over-used and misused word is still "basically". Guilty in the 1st degree. Ross Frozen Foods? Yes. All Is True and yet poker players throughout the world did not fold? Texas Hold 'em? My 'em bring them joy. When I said eyes front the long distance joggers were running toward a F Inland Revenue Officer sort of. F Inland. No skin off my..........never mind. If the fall the only thing left - I chose to find out if yesterday was the day is all. Only connect and I did. Victoria Coren Mitchell. Isn't the world small? My new book title Fool Metal Jacket. Anyone for "T"? wouldn't it be iced. Long title. I will think on.

[@weswheel4834]

Horrible Histories. Viking Song. Literally.

[@weswheel4834]

It's a classic. ("We're burning up this town")

[@jackpower1one]

Mark Twain had used 'literally' in-place of 'figuratively' in his work

[@christaguariglia3241]

😂😂😂

[@ManguaBlox]

anyone watching this for school, no just me (huh)

[@paigelmao8161]

me too lol

[@joe3k907]

A man who puts a W in front of every single word complaining about people not speaking correctly , that's funny .

[@anxietii3806]

johannes k hagbardsson he has an accent though, he has an excuse...

[@sukidiethrich3597]

i couldnt care less

[@phoebemarshall2479]

am i the only one who’s english teacher made me watch this

Bad teachers are nothing new.

[@Yoopsen213]

I'm tired of hearing grammar nazis saying I'm using literally yet they never take the time to explain how to use it properly.

[@VillaBoys123]

Do you really need it explaining to you? If so, it probably isn't worth their time pointing it out.

[@hotrodd29]

People who use the word “obviously” wrong gets my goat. For example: “My mum’s obviously in a wheelchair” When you don’t know the persons mum it’s not obvious

"When you don't know"… so, it's not used wrong here, at least not *always*. Depending on context, it can be totally correct.

[@TheTaterTotP80]

Spicey has been around for literally centuries to mean good or attractive. Far from new.6

[@martinfairclough3581]

I wud put in room101 1 people who smoke in buss stops , 2 the royal family . 3 eny one who votes tory. 4 all mps

[@meatballsub8788]

kinda bad video ngl Never driven off road??!! Typical city boy. Get out and live life. Top gear is freakin epic.!!

[@GeraldineLancaster]

Johnathan Ross needs to read a dictionary.

Better yet, he should read about the actual history of the word.