Many readers learned in their youth that there is a clear difference between literally and figuratively. Figurative is metaphorical, so to speak, not real. Literally is actually real. It means: exactly what is said or written.
In the minds of those readers, a short circuit can arise if they hear someone say, for example: we literally laughed ourselves to death. Or: I was literally bored to death. Whoever says that has risen from the dead, which has also rarely happened historically.
Are those language lessons from the past still relevant to practice? New. As confusing as it may be, you don’t have to take literal so literally. Plenty of examples – in a wide spectrum of texts. I was literally shocked the leplazarus. His eyes literally breathed fire. Her desserts are literally heavenly. Literally does not mean the opposite of figuratively here, but is a reinforcing word. For: very much, absolutely, totally, really.
degradation
Is that a recent development in Dutch? A sign of degeneration, an indication that our language is – literally – heading for the abyss? Many readers experience it that way, but no, we have been saying and writing this since the beginning of the 19th century. It Dictionary of the Dutch Language gives an example from 1825.
Hmm, apparently someone who has been taking care of himself for a long time. Plus a bean lover who still understands the ancient art of shelling
Many elderly people are annoyed by the reinforcing meaning of literally. The Society of Our Language has one advice about which is often consulted. In it we also read that literal is sometimes reinforced even more by adding figuratively. You then get sentences like: “I was literally and figuratively ashamed of him.” In 1980 this newspaper ran: “Football Backwards, Literally and Figuratively.” An example from 2016, also from this newspaper: “I am now in my early thirties and have literally and figuratively had to take care of my own beans for more than ten years.”
brain gymnastics
My experience is that these kinds of sentences encourage mental gymnastics. You try to imagine it. Hmm, apparently someone who has been taking care of himself for a long time. Plus a bean lover who still understands the ancient art of husking.
You will also encounter this combination at all levels, recently in the Speech from the Throne: “In the allowance affair, the government has literally and figuratively wronged people.”
What I think the annoyance and confusion of the reader (m/f/x) shows above all is how difficult it often is to say goodbye to lessons from your childhood. They are etched in your memory. Literally and/or figuratively, I want to avoid that, because anyone who juggles too much with these words will quickly become confused.