"Literally": "Literally" literally means in actuality, not figurative but real. I hear news commentators and other exaggerators use the word often merely as an intensifier. I find it grating and sometimes ludicrous, sometimes reducing clarity. Some linguists call this type of word a “contranym”. Some use it to mean what it meant in an earlier time, some use it to mean the opposite of its earlier meaning. Notice that I didn’t say original meaning. The original meaning is letter by letter as in translating from one language to another. So it already has a figurative sense when used as “actual.” In addition, we don’t complain when a person replaces "literally" with “really“, as an intensifier.

For me the simple rule about using the word "literally" is: Don’t!

It almost never improves a sentence even if it is used to mean “actually“, just as “actually“ and “really” usually make a sentence windy and do not help understanding. Intensifiers generally add little but wind to a sentence.

Really!

“Quantum Leap“: Physicists have observed that electrons have the remarkable ability to jump from one orbit to another without existing in the in-between space. First they sit on one orbit, then, sit in another. That is a “quantum leap“. The distance can barely be measured. To use the term “quantum leap” to mean making a giant jump is to demonstrate that you don’t know where the term came from. In addition to that embarrassing situation, you are using a worn-out cliché and making your speech sound brainless. A brainless sentence may suit your needs, but you should avoid advertising that it has little merit.

My rule about the term “quantum leap”: Don’t use it unless you are talking about the physics phenomenon, which, with any luck, you will almost never do. One can reasonably use the term to mean a sudden shift, but few people will understand what you mean. Better to find a simpler term.

Jack Wilson
http://www.geocities.com/galimatio/jackwilson.html