definition of literal, figurative: People are "literally" insane. What about sutta translators?

"My brain literally exploded."

"My mind was literally blown."

I was taught these two definitions for "literal" and "figurative" in grade school,

explained nicely here by Miles N. Fowler,

Copy editor, coll. newspaper, Pi Delta Epsilon (Journalism)

People will get a word into their heads and use it more than they should, 

to the point where they are misusing it.

I don’t know why, but why have so many people, for so long, 

used the word “literally” incorrectly?

“A wasp came flying at me, and it was literally as big as a house!”

No, it was literally closer to one inch long, 

but it might have seemed much bigger at close range.

 (Fear causes the mind to exaggerate.)

The word “literally” should only be used to describe reality.

 It does not mean that something is only found in poetry (literature).

It is never “literally raining cats and dogs.”

 That would mean that furry creatures were actually falling from the sky.

 The correct way of saying that would be, 

 “It is figuratively raining cats and dogs,” 

 as in, a “figure” of speech.

People do not overuse the word “figurative.”

Go figure.

Recently, I've heard several younger people using the word "literally" incorrectly

I thought, is the younger generation completely uneducated?

It only takes two seconds with phones and personal computers to look up a correct meaning of a word.

Why are their friends and social media followers not being a good friend and correcting them,

letting them know they look uneducated and foolish?

Just as people let their friends know if there's a piece of food stuck in their teeth and they look goofy?

Then I thought, maybe I'm "literally" the "insane" one

One of the things I've learned in life is never underestimate the stupidity of people.

So I took 2 seconds to do a quick internet search to see if the dictionary meaning for "literal" had changed. 

Indeed it did!

summarized nicely in this excerpt from:

https://theweek.com/articles/466957/how-wrong-definition-literally-sneaked-into-dictionary

Much to the chagrin of grammar-lovers everywhere, 

it turns out that this informal (and completely incorrect) use of "literally" 

has actually been added to three established dictionaries, 

as Reddit user andtheniansaid pointed out.

 

Here's what each dictionary said:

Merriam-Webster added a second usage of the word to mean "virtually," 

but added the disclaimer that 

"Since some people take sense 2 to be the opposite of sense 1, 

it has been frequently criticized as a misuse.

Instead, the use is pure hyperbole intended to gain emphasis, 

but it often appears in contexts where no additional emphasis is necessary."

Cambridge Dictionaries Online added that the informal usage of the word is 

"used to emphasize what you are saying," 

while Oxford Dictionaries also added a similar informal usage, 

which is "used for emphasis while not being literally true."

 

Oxford, however, also noted that 

"in recent years an extended use of literally has become very common, 

where literally is used deliberately in non-literal contexts, 

for added effect, 

as in they bought the car and literally ran it into the ground.

 

This use can lead to unintentional humorous effects 

and is not acceptable in formal contexts, although it is widespread."

So there you have it:

 The dictionaries have begrudgingly bowed to the will of the grammar-averse public.

What's the proper Buddhist attitude to words changing in meaning?

Everything is impermanent, 

language is constantly changing whether you like it or not.

So getting upset or angry about change is counterproductive, and bad for your health.

But from a purely pragamatic and common sense point of view,

not being pedantic or snobby intellectual elitist, 

some important terms you don't want to mess with because it's dangerous.

They can literally cause great harm or at the very least 

financial repercussions, waste of time, energy and resources

if people misunderstand your use of  term "literally" to be literal  (instead of the opposite meaning, "figurative").

For example, in this 8 second political advertisement,

If we take them literally, truthfully, at their word, that they were "literally shocked",

someone would call 911 and send an ambulance.

Do you literally know how expensive that is in time, money, resources?

Is that a politician you would elect?

(Don't answer that question, I don't want to know. If 71 million people elected a convicted felon as US President who's a known rapist, racist, misogynist lying liar only looking out for himself, not the good of the country, they're literally capable of electing anyone for any office)

You can literally use the word "literally" with the opposite meaning...

And the 3 major dictionaries have caved in to popular misuse and accept this opposite meaning.

But intelligent, sensible, pragmatic people 

are still going to think you're literally an idiot if you do,

whether the context is formal or not.

Brain teaser

Are these uses of "literally" correct?

1) Intelligent people will think you're literally an idiot if you use the word "literal" to mean "figurative".

2) Intelligent people will literally think you're an idiot if you use the word "literal" to mean "figurative".

I use the definition for "idiot"  in the general sense of  "person of low intelligence" here,

not a clinical diagnosis for some medical condition.

3) people who say "literal" when they actually mean the opposite "figurative" are literally insane.

using this definition of "insane": extreme foolishness or irrationality.

What about changing meaning of important words in sutta translation?

Buddhists accept change with equanimity, 

even if it's wrong or stupid,

but when it comes to important words in the suttas,

you have a draw a line.

Example 1: SN 35.245: Ajahn Brahm doesn't know the difference between jhāna, samatha, vipassana

Example 2: MN 117 Sujato's fraudulent/criminal interpretation of 'vitakka' is based on this sutta

Answer to brain teaser 

All uses of "literally" there are correct. 

Do people understand the point of the phrase "literal"?

It's to emphasize that you're not exaggerating, 

you're not joking,

you're not just using a metaphor or figure of speech,

you're not using hyperbole,

that it's REAL.

That it REALLY, in reality, happened to you, so pay attention to what I say.

Example: "I literally fainted when I found out I passed my English class in grade school. I thought I was going to flunk out. They had to take me to a hospital to make sure I was okay."

As opposed to,

"I thought I was going to faint when I passed a class I was expecting to fail."

The other day, I saw a video where a young person said, 

"I literally died [when some interesting thing happened to them.]"

Did you?

How did they revive you?

How did your mom react when she heard the news that you died?

You know people in history have actually, really, literally died of fright when they hear shocking news right?

"Literal" is not a word you want to play around and joke about.

Ever heard the parable of the boy who cried wolf?

Is it funny to have people lie to you?

to give you a shock and say some bad thing really, "literally" happened to them,

when you actually mean the opposite, that it DID NOT happen to them?

What kind of sense does that make?

It's like redefining the word "emergency" as "trivial event you can safely ignore.",

Or have a traffic light where red light means "go", and green light means "stop."

Or a famous meditation teacher  redefining the word "body" to mean "mind",

and redefining the word "think" to mean "not think, brain shuts off and is a state of frozen stupor." 

That is literally insane.

It's what a clinically insane person would do, 

speak words to mean the opposite thing from a standard  dictionary definition.

Why do people use "literally" to mean the opposite?

It's unsafe, dangerous, confusing, obnoxious, ignorant.

It's not funny, it's not helpful.

It makes your brain do a double take when you're trying parse the meaning when people use it wrongly.

The brain is saying, "ok, literal means they really mean it, it's real, not a joke."

And then it thinks, "but wait, they're still here talking to me, they didn't 'literally die'."

And then, "oh, ok, they're one of the idiots who use the phrase 'literally' to mean 'not literally'."