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Literally vs Surely - What's the difference?

literally | surely |

As adverbs the difference between literally and surely

is that literally is (speech act) word for word; not figuratively; not as an idiom or metaphor while surely is without fail.

literally

English

Alternative forms

* litterally (obsolete)

Adverb

(-)
  • (speech act) word for word; not figuratively; not as an idiom or metaphor
    • When I saw on the news that there would be no school tomorrow because of the snowstorm, I literally jumped for joy, and hit my head on the ceiling fan.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 24 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3 , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=Sequels to fish-out-of-water comedies make progressively less sense the longer a series continues. By the time Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles rolled around in 2001, 15 years after the first Crocodile Dundee became a surprise blockbuster, the title character had been given an awfully long time to grow acclimated to those kooky Americans. Men In Black 3 finagles its way out of this predicament by literally resetting the clock with a time-travel premise that makes Will Smith both a contemporary intergalactic cop in the late 1960s and a stranger to Josh Brolin, who plays the younger version of Smith’s stone-faced future partner, Tommy Lee Jones.}}
  • (degree, proscribed) used non-literally as an intensifier for figurative statements : virtually (often considered incorrect; see usage notes)
  • * 1827 , Sir Walter Scott, Chronicles of the Canongate
    • The house was literally electrified; and it was only from witnessing the effects of her genius that he could guess to what a pitch theatrical excellence could be carried.
  • * 1993 , , Real Magic , page 193:
    • You literally become the ball in a tennis match, you become the report that you are working on
  • * 2009 , :
    • - She took a giant shit on my face. Literally.
    - Literally?
    - Well, no, not literally . That's disgusting. What's wrong with you?
  • (colloquial) Used as a generic downtoner : just, merely.
    • You literally put it in the microwave for five minutes and it's done.

    Usage notes

    "Literally" is the opposite of "figuratively", so many authorities object to the use of literally'' as an intensifier for figurative statements. For example "you literally become the ball", by the primary sense, would mean actually transforming into a spherical object, but the speaker is using ''literally as an intensifier. However, this type of usage is common in informal speech ("she was literally in floods of tears") and has a history of use in written English going back to at least 1827.

    Quotations

    * (English Citations of "literally")

    Synonyms

    * (not metaphorically) actually, really * (as an intensifier) virtually

    Antonyms

    * (not metaphorically) figuratively, metaphorically, virtually

    surely

    English

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Without fail.
  • :
  • Certainly, undoubtedly.
  • :
  • *
  • *:But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window.
  • With confidence.
  • :

    • Quotations

    *1611 , (King James Version of the Bible), 1:1 *:Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us.

    Synonyms

    * certainly, wis