In the past couple of weeks I have encountered the following in manuscripts I’m editing:
This essay was put together during – literally – a vacuum, a dreaded wasteland between [event A] and [event b]
The economic warning signs of spring would literally hit the fan by fall.
In both cases, I zapped the “literally.” The only place you can put an essay together in a vacuum is in outer space or a vacuum chamber. And there’s only one thing that can hit a fan.
Authors: please remember that “literally” means literally.
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