You literally don't need to take 'literally' literally: After years of misuse the Oxford English Dictionary gives in and changes word's meaning 
 
 Definition added in September 2011 edition, but unnoticed until this week 
 
 Commentators and politicians are often ridiculed for using word incorrectly 
 
 
 
 
 
 'It literally made me tear my hair out': The wrong sense has been included in the OED 
 
 It is a word that has been misused by so many that its definition has been changed – literally. 
 
 The Oxford English Dictionary has revealed that it has included the erroneous use of the word ‘literally’ after the usage became popular. 
 
 The dictionary states the definition as ‘in a literal way or sense’ but adds that, informally, it can be ‘used for emphasis rather than being actually true’ such as ‘we were literally killing ourselves laughing’. 
 
 The definition was added in the September 2011 edition, but went unnoticed until this week. 
 
 
 
 Senior OED editor Fiona McPherson commented in jest: ‘It seems to have literally slipped under the radar.’ 
 
 The move will be a relief to commentators and politicians who have been ridiculed for using the word incorrectly. 
 
 Last year, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg described low-rate taxpayers as ‘literally living in a different galaxy’, while in 2007 cricketer Sir Ian Botham said batsmen surviving appeals for leg-before-wicket dismissals had been ‘getting away with murder, literally’. 
 
 In 1876, Mark Twain used the word in this way in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. 
 
 
 
 He wrote: ‘And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth.’ 
 
 
 
 However, the oldest documented incorrect use of the word is in 1769 when the author Frances Brooke wrote, in The History of Emily Montague: ‘He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival; it is literally to feed among the lilies.’ 
 
 
 
 Miss McPherson said: ‘Our job is to describe the language people are using. The only reason this sense is included is because people are using it in this way. 
 
 ‘Words have changed their meaning ever since the first word was uttered. Meat used to mean all food but now its sense has narrowed.’ 
 
 
 
 At least, when explaining how people incorrectly use it, the dictionary still seems to slightly scold the person delivering the wrong word. 
 
 
 
 It says: 'This use can lead to unintentional humorous effects (we were literally killing ourselves laughing) and is not acceptable in formal contexts, though it is widespread.' 
 
 Not everyone has been impressed with the change in use over the word. 
 
 It says: 'In recent years an extended use of literally has become very common, where literally is used deliberately in non-literal contexts, for added effect 
 
 'My impression is that many people don't have any idea of what "literally" means — or used to mean,' Boston University psycholinguist Jean Berko Gleason told the Boston Globe, The Week reported in March. 
 
 
 
 But the OED prides itself on constantly looking out for new ways words can be interpreted. 
 
 
 
 In June the leading authority on the English language confirmed that the definition of the word 'marriage' will be changed now a law allowing same-sex couples to get married has been passed. 
 
 Language experts said the definition did not change overnight but they will monitor how the word marriage changes over the next year. 
 
 
 
 An Oxford University Press spokeswoman said: ‘We continually monitor the words in our dictionaries, paying particular to those words whose usage is shifting, so yes, this will happen with marriage.’ 
 
 
 
 As it stands, OxfordDictionaries.com defines marriage as being a ‘formal union of a man and a woman, typically as recognised by law, by which they become husband and wife.’ ||||| Fiona McPherson, senior editor, said the new sense was added to the dictionary in September 2011, but seemed to have gone unnoticed. With her tongue firmly in her cheek, she said: “It seems to have literally slipped under the radar.” 
 
 The dictionary states that literally means “in a literal way or sense”. But it now adds that, informally, the word can be “used for emphasis rather than being actually true” such as “we were literally killing ourselves laughing”. 
 
 The addition may come as a relief to pundits and politicians who have been ridiculed for using the word incorrectly. 
 
 Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, last year described low-rate taxpayers as “literally living in a different galaxy”, while Sir Ian Botham, the cricketer, in 2007 said batsmen surviving appeals for leg-before-wicket dismissals had been “getting away with murder, literally”. 
 
 Jamie Redknapp, the Sky TV pundit, once said of the Manchester United footballer Wayne Rooney that he was “literally on fire”. 
 
 But Ms McPherson said they were in good company. Mark Twain used the more modern sense of the word in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In 1876 he wrote: “And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth.” 
 
 The oldest documented incorrect use of the word is 1769 when the author Frances Brooke wrote, in The History of Emily Montague: “He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival; it is literally to feed among the lilies.” 
 
 Ms McPherson said: “Our job is to describe the language people are using. The only reason this sense is included is because people are using it in this way. Words have changed their meaning ever since the first word was uttered. Meat used to mean all food but now its sense has narrowed."
– A recent change to the Oxford English Dictionary must have pedants ripping their hair out ... literally. It went unnoticed, but the OED added an additional meaning to the word "literally" two years ago because people use the word for exaggerated effect, the Daily Mail reports. "Our job is to describe the language people are using," said OED Senior Editor Fiona McPherson. "The only reason this sense is included is because people are using it the wrong way." But as the Telegraph points out, using "literally" for emphasis is nothing new. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain writes that his protagonist "was literally rolling in wealth." The 1769 novel The History of Emily Montague records the earliest known "wrong" use of the word, describing a character as lucky to meet "a party of fine women": "It is literally to feed among the lilies." Besides, says McPherson, word meanings change quite often: "Meat used to mean all food but now its sense has narrowed."