[pifflesnort]

I would like to introduce you to my friend, rhetorical hyperbole: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole

It's not actually the case that every single acquisition in the world involves public platitudes about the continuance of management, the product, culture, office location, or lunch room perks.

Just a literally a metric ton of them.

[anonymous]

Here's my chief gripe with using hyperbole and "literally" - If the word "literally" can be used non-literally, in a hyperbole or a metaphor, then it stops serving its purpose of marking a sentence as being literal. Then, when a sentence permits metaphoric and literal interpretations and you stick "literally" in it, nothing changes - it can still be either metaphoric or literal. The only solution I see is using "really literally" to mean that your sentence isn't metaphoric. Until people start using "really literally" in a metaphoric way. I virtually really literally actually in fact don't want to see that happen.

P.S. Use "practically" instead.

[zzzmarcus]

Merriam Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary already accept the use of "literally" to mean "virtually" in informal contexts. It's a losing battle.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/literally