Indian PittaLarge Grey BabblerPainted StorkGreat Thick-kneeRiver TernWhite-throated KingfisherRufous-tailed ShrikeOrange-headed Thrush
BUBO home   photos   listing   trips   misc

CamLit: Campaign against the misuse of the word "literally"

It's literally the bee's knees!

Also check out some other literally links: Guardian Unlimited: A bit of lit crit, Literally Decimated, Figuratively Speaking, Robert Fulford's column.

From our learned friends at the Collins English Dictionary:
The use of literally as an intensifier is common, esp. in informal
contexts. In some cases, it provides emphasis without adding to the
meaning: 'the house was literally only five minutes walk away'. Often,
however, its use results in absurdity: 'the news was literally an
eye-opener to me'. It is therefore best avoided in formal contexts.

Greg Rutherford literally destroyed the oppostion.

Michael Johnson, commentating on long jump at the 2015 World Athletics Championships.

Pretty much the game was won and there was no complacency but they've literally pulled the rabbit out of the hat.

Derbyshire captain Wes Durston after losing their T20 match to Durham.

Your good wishes and sympathy literally blew us away.

Michael Schumacher's wife Corinna, offering a message of heartfelt thanks to F1 fans for their support.

It's my lifeline, I literally go everywhere on it.

Woman interviewed on BBC programme about mobility scooters

As I allowed my binoculars to linger one last time on the dark, desolate lake, in flew the duck - literally into our binocs!

Delhibirdpix email group

Viv Richards could literally destroy any attack in world cricket.

Dilip Vengsarkar

It is amazing to have everything quite literally at your fingertips.

Article about Getting Things Done productivity method

Our entire office can literally be on our iPhone, Android, iPad, Tablet, or laptop.

Article about Getting Things Done productivity method

Sachin [Tendulkar] is literally on the off stump.

Saurav Ganguly, commentating on England v India

[Graham] Swann has literally an umbrella kind of field.

Ravi Shastri (literally flowing with them), still commentating on England v India

[Kevin] Pietersen is literally toying with Amit Mishra.

Ravi Shastri, again commentating on England v India

[Kevin] Pietersen is literally taking the attack to Amit Mishra.

Ravi Shastri, commentating on England v India

[Andrew] Strauss has literally dug in for the day.

Alan Wilkins, commentating on England v India

If these allegations are true it would literally break the hearts of millions.

Channel 9, USA; about Lance Armstrong and doping

The photographer has literally pulled the row of hills together.

Practical Photography magazine

It is literally to die for.

Recipe for Turkish Gozleme - tasty definitely, but not THAT good!

The Roufus [sic] Sibia literally took my breath away when I saw it

Comment on a birding blog about India

He [Suresh Kalmadi] literally screwed up the games from the day one.

Comment on BBC blog about the Commonwealth Games in Delhi

We've literally got almost 100% of the organic market sewn up.

Organic produce advertiser

Two premier NHL goalies, Roberto Luongo and Evgeni Nabakov, will literally be carrying their countries on their shoulders.

Report on Canada v Russia Ice Hockey in the Winter Olympics

The Foreign-Exchange Market has literally exploded in the last 10 years.

mandango.biz financial blog

The position of the Assistant Property Manager is assigned to a Property Manager and a designated portfolio of properties and will literally become wedded to both.

Craigslist job advert

I walked along with Ashley Banwell and another man and a Purple Sandpiper literally walked across us on the shingle.

Penny Clarke's blog

The land literally flowed with milk and honey.

"Little Women", Louisa May Alcott

[Tom Sawyer] was literally rolling in wealth.

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", Mark Twain

[Jay Gatsby] literally glowed.

"The Great Gatsby", F Scott Fitzgerland

[Mozart was] the acme of first class music as such, literally knocking everything else into a cocked hat.

"Ullyses", James Joyce

This homosexual steamroller will literally crush all decent men, women and children who get in its way.

The late Jerry Falwell

Many of you will know me from my famous book, titled "The Liver Cleansing Diet" which literally shot to fame like a shining meteorite.

Liverdoctor.com website

My rocket has literally taken off.

Work colleague talking about his garden.
He was referring to the salad vegetable, and not a firework or space travel vehicle, so this does indeed qualify as a misuse!

I'm literally falling apart.

Lindsay Lohan, in Vanity Fair magazine.
She was commenting after a hair extension fell out, so disappointingly this is actually a correct use of the word!

Everyday I get literally bombarded with event invitations.

Facebook blog post.

MG Road and Church Street literally offer the world on a platter.

Bangalore Times newspaper.

Andy Johnson was literally banjoed out of the game by a player who made no attempt to win the ball.

A bad tackle in a Europa League game was not music to the ears of Fulham boss Roy Hodgson.

[My mom's] fried chicken would literally put on tennis shoes and run the f*** into your mouth.

Recipe from "Cookin' with Coolio: 5 Star Meals at a 1 Star Price".

[Harbhajan] literally drilled that through the offside.

Ravi Shastri, India v Australia

She may be a sensation on the music scene, but pop star Lady GaGa’s daring outfits have landed her, quite literally, in hot soup.

Bangalore Times

Servet is literally - literally - up his backside there.

Andy Townsend, pundit for Czech Republic vs Turkey Euro 2008 match, quoted in FourFourTwo magazine

This Darjeeling-born woman literally grew up with her head in the clouds.

India Today magazine article

[There are] literally hundreds of millions of poor countries in Africa.

Peter Hain in a BBC interview

Manchester are literally slicing up Kiev here.

David Pleat, commentating on Manchester United v Dynamo Kiev

My stomach is literally doing somersaults.

Emma Forbes, TV presenter and a contestant in Celebrity Masterchef

It is a delight to have caught you literally in the net.

Bngbirds email group posting, referring to long-lost friends being reunited

I literally bumped into a group of nine laughing thrush.

Birding trip report for Thailand
Somewhat surprising that the thrushes were laughing after such an experience

I have never worked harder to photograph a bird than this one! We had to literally walk a vertical mile in shola and elephant grass...

Ramki, Bangalore-based photographer (having photographed Broad-tailed Grassbird at Munnar, Kerala)

A tidal power company were literally working on a shoestring.

John Redman, Severn Tidal Power Group
Sounds precarious, especially if it was dangling over the estuary!

He literally assured us of frame-filling images of otherwise shy & elusive birds...

India-Nature-Pixs email group

Despite the literally gut-wrenching manner in which Tottenham lost their Champions League spot to Arsenal...

Ray Collins, The Sunday Telegraph

The Polish Embassy almost literally pushed the boat out when throwing a banquet.

Diplomatic Dinners, BBC Radio 4

Many hundreds (if not thousands) of Yellow-breasted Buntings are being captured this autumn and literally being killed to be used as a delicasy (sic) in food dishes.

Lee Evans, Surfbirds mailing list.
An unnecessary literally, if not an incorrect one. Unless there is indeed a way of metaphorically killing a Yellow-breasted Bunting?

The 9/11 threat literally froze the passengers of a Hyderabad-bound train following a bomb hoax call.

The Times of India newspaper
Quite an achievement in 35 degree heat!

Trains are running 25% slower because the tracks are literally cooking.

BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat

What a chance that was - literally delivered to him on a plate.

Andy Townsend, Germany v Italy, ITV

You can see that Figo has literally been everywhere.

Andy Townsend, Angola v Portugal, ITV

For a while i've been literally hunting for the book on birds of the Indian subcontinent.

Birds of Bombay email group

This shallow crater lake was literally jam-packed with birds.

Birdwatching Breaks trip report to Ethiopia

Vieira was robbed by Pires, quite literally.

Clive Tyldesley, ITV, Arsenal v Juventus

A tripod system is literally an extension of a cameraman’s limb on the field.

Digital Studio magazine

All the hills were literally dripping with springs, nallahs and rivulets.

Indian birder

They literally gutted the dog.

BBC News article about squirrels in Russia. (A real literally gutted!)

British officials have literally been working around the clock [to help people caught up in hurricane Katrina].

Today Programme, Radio 4

That was hit with such power it's literally gone through Michael Clarke at gully.

Michael Slater, Channel 4 Cricket, England v Australia

You can literally cut the atmosphere with a knife.

Mark Nicholas, Channel 4 Cricket, England v Australia

Kasey Keller comes flying out, literally.

John Motson, BBC Match of the Day, USA v England

Liverpool have literally come back from the grave.

BBC Sports News, reporting on Liverpool's comeback in the UEFA Champions League Final

Billions of pounds are literally being flushed down the toilet.

Breakfast TV

A Jack Snipe flushed out from literally under our feet.

Indian Birder

The government has literally ploughed millions of pounds into the soil in this area.

Michaela Strachan, BBC Countryfile

History is literally unfolding in front of your eyes.

Caroline Hawley, BBC correspondent in Baghdad

They whitewashed us, literally scrubbed us through the brushes.

Rugby correspondent, BBC Radio 5 Live

James Milner is literally hugging the touchline.

Football correspondent, BBC Radio 5 Live

I literally stumbled across a Snow Bunting.

Sussex birder

India will quite literally be your oyster.

Lastminute.com Indian cooking holiday

Some businesses would be literally lost without a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).

HSBC Business Update newsletter

It was only a push and the ball literally flew to the boundary.

Mike Gatting, England v South Africa, Radio 4 Test Match Special

It was a bad ball, short and wide, and Gibbs literally threw the bat at it.

Jonathan Agnew, England v South Africa, Radio 4 Test Match Special

Send the burger and you are literally sending a hot potato.

Article about complaining (about a dodgy burger), Jeremy Vine show, Radio 2

Greg Rusedski literally threw the match away.

Spectator being interviewed on Radio 5 Live

This new telescope opens new horizons, quite literally.

Richard Ives, Sussex Ornithological Society newsletter

Going into the cabin is literally stepping into the past.

Jill Cordes, describing how rustic Trapper John's B&B seems

He literally threaded the ball across the goal.

Ron "It-has-to-be-said" Jones, Radio 5 Live

They were literally pulverised by Australia.

Ravi Shastri, Radio 5 Live

If he wins the roof will literally come off.

Mark Winstanley, racing correspondent, previewing Cheltenham Festival, Radio 5 Live

The Sri Lankans literally gave the game away.

Kris Srikkanth

The next half-an-hour is literally overflowing with cricket.

Sportsline, Star Sports

The Indian players have been on the road, literally, for two or three years.

Ravi Shastri

I'm fascinated by Jane Austen because she's literally in my blood. She's my great-aunt from eight generations ago.

Anna Chancellor, quoted in Radio Times
Attempting to use 'literally' correctly but failing miserably!

Is it literally wall to wall cricket?

John Humphries interviewing Gareth Batty about a new cricket academy, Radio

The whole thing will be literally mothballed from that moment on.

Kevin Connolly, Radio 5 Live, commenting on the effects of the break-up of government from Stormont

Tap the pedal to the floor and the Earth opens up. Literally.

Ford Ikon advert, Outlook magazine, India

The film has literally been heaped with praise.

Outlook magazine, India

We can literally take a post office to a village in a suitcase.

Radio 5 Live

The plans are literally to start a bonfire of police paperwork.

David Blunkett, Radio 4

You get carried away, literally carried away, with enthusiasm.

Steve Wright to Murray Walker, Radio 2

The fireman will be keeping an eye on the fire, literally, for a couple of days.

BBC Radio Five Live

Roy Keane has got too big for his boots, literally.

Mike Ingham, BBC Radio Five Live

As soon as I looked at the children I could tell... ...it was 95 degrees and they were literally baking.

Sheriff Fred Abdalla, Jefferson County, after arresting a woman for having sunburnt children, Daily Mail

The left hand quite literally disagrees with the right hand.

Orange mobile phone e-mail list

West Brom are literally hanging on.

Ivan Gaskell, BBC Grandstand, West Bromwich Albion v Fulham

Michael Jackson almost literally stole the headlines.

Channel 4 News

She drove away, literally, over the first hurdle.

Sally Gunnell

They'll be throwing me to the dogs - literally if the Slater sisters are there!

Janine, Eastenders

The village has literally been through a mangle.

Bob Sinkinson, BBC Radio Five Live

He was literally trying to smooth over water with oil on it.

Brian Clough, talking about Alex Ferguson, BBC Radio Five Live

We've literally been to the ends of the Earth to find the best clip art.

Clip art website

How to make your website literally worldwide .

Internet article, Austin Business Journal

As athletes these triple jumpers are literally human kangaroos.

Stuart Storey, European Championships, BBC

The web is literally crawling with portal sites.

Click for Choice search engine

Literally, the centre of the city was blanketed by security guards.

Bogotá Correspondent, Radio Five Live

I'm going to literally crack down on crack and cocaine.

David Blunkett, BBC Radio 5 Live

Each England game has literally been a home game.

Graham Taylor, regarding England's World Cup games in South Korea and Japan

You could literally be dancing on the ceiling.

Davina McCall

I am literally between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Roger Broadbent, debating whether to give up on the Dawlish Elegant Tern

I am also quite literally tripping over Dartford Warblers on the western heaths.

Alan Perry, Sussex Ornithological Society

They were literally stepping into the unknown.

Submarine documentary, Channel 5

The taxi is tiny - I'm literally shoe-horned into the front seat.

Report on Bejing, Radio Five Live, 1st Feb 2002

When Andre Agassi meets a qualifier, he tends to literally steamroller them.

Ian Carter, BBC Tennis Correspondent, Radio Five Live, 28th Aug 2001

We would literally be playing Russian roulette with our children's health.

Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer, on the MMR vaccine (quoted on BBC website)

I was literally painting the garden with the flowers.

Flying Gardener, BBC2

The swifts were literally hoovering up the flies.

Bill Oddie, BBC2

You could buy literally anything you wanted.

Radio 5 article about an ironmongers.

Rahman’s been literally bursting with confidence all week.

Boxing Commentator, Lewis vs Rahman 2 build-up, Radio Five Live, 18th Nov 2001.

All hell broke loose - literally.

Report on the rowdy Lewis - Tyson press conference, Radio 5.

This chilli will literally blow your head off!

UK Food Channel

The ground is so dry around Sydney that fires can flare up literally at the drop of a hat.

TV Commentator

Thousands of Swallows form dark clouds and just before dark literally fall from the sky like rain into the reeds.

Pretoriabirds E-mail Group

Two stunning male Chestnut Buntings literally dropped out of the sky.

Birdwatch Magazine

The next step is deciding if owning a horse is something you should consider. Owning a horse is expensive and it requires time. It's a far larger undertaking, not just literally, then deciding to own a cat or dog.

A great example of the correct use of literally!

Asylum seekers are literally being used as pawns.

BBC Radio 4

Go through any door in Bali and you literally step into a different world.

BBC Holiday Programme

Either side and he'd have scored, but it was straight, literally, down the keeper's throat.

Commentator, Radio 5 Live

The sky quite literally fell in on Bell Harbour.

Channel 4 News

The MOBO awards literally do mix up a large bag of performers.

Radio 5

The bird literally threw itself off the cliff.

Anon

When I watched Moulin Rouge I was literally in heaven.

Radio 5

The discovery... ...literally rewrote the history books.

Secret History, Channel 4

It could have gone either way, but we literally ran out of legs.

Keith Allan, President, England Roller Hockey Association, Radio 5 Live

I would suggest that the press is literally gagged during this trial.

Panellist on phone-in, talking about the potential trial of the Hamiltons, Radio 5 Live

The West Indian bowlers Ramadhin and Valentine literally faded away in the remaining Tests.

ChennaiOnline article about Peter May

Amelia Erhart and her navigator were literally marooned on a desert island.

The Today Programme, Radio 4. Bet that put a bit of colour in her cheeks!

My arm is literally killing me.

Rich Andrews' mate in Ayia Napa (after a rigorous pounding on a giant inflatable marine-banana)

She is literally a polaroid of perfection.

Clueless, Children's TV

A burst water main has literally lifted the road surface by two feet.

Jo Sale, Radio 5 Live

The police were literally swimming in a sea of red herrings.

Sun Reporter regarding the Jill Dando murder trial.

This was literally a shocking murder.

BBC Newsnight

Do you object to these private companies making tens of millions of pounds, literally without raising a finger?

John Humphreys (to John Prescott), Today Programme, BBC Radio 4
Technically correct!

NHS Primary Care is literally damaging patients.

BBC Breakfast News

Paris is literally awash with chateaux.

Harriet Saxton, Holiday (literally?) on a Shoestring, BBC 1

The crowd literally went wild when Nelson Mandela appeared.

Radio 5 Live

We've had literally millions of e-mails.

Chris Moyles, Radio 1

There aren't many Page 3 girls - literally a handful.

Chris Moyles, Radio 1

These people were literally up his bum.

Boy George, referring to the 'bum' of David Bowie, and 'these people' were Steve Strange of Visage and Marilyn
Potentially a correct use of literally then!

Once again Alesi having to literally throw the Prost into a corner - that really does look evil that car.

Martin Brundle, British Grand Prix 2000

He has literally put his money where his mouth is.

Radio 5 Live, on new BT Chairman Christopher Bland

The ground floor was literally swimming in water.

BBC1 Real Rooms

The sweat was literally dripping off the ceiling.

Dave Pearce, Radio 1

The supermarkets really should be contributing more towards the farmers who are literally on their knees.

Lembit Opik MP

Jody Scheckter spun out of control... ...precipitating a chain reaction that had Grandstand viewers literally falling out of their armchairs.

FHM Formula 1 Diary

If they cannot be transported soon, some cows will literally pass their sell by date.

Nick Clarke, World at One

My car is literally on its last legs.

Mike's work colleague

Derby have literally hung on by the skin of their teeth.

Football correspondent, BBC Grandstand

Everton have literally steamrollered Coventry.

Football correspondent, BBC Grandstand

The best [motor] show of them all is on my doorstep... literally.

Contributor, Motoring website

The Sun speak to Nikoro Vieira, brother of Patrick, on his fears that his brother will be literally kicked out of English football. "Will it only stop when they have broken his leg?" he said.

BBC Sport website

It was literally a game of two halves

Sports reporter, Radio Bristol

Boateng literally took his legs away.

BBC Radio 5

I looked at the paper and her photo literally jumped out at me.

This is Your Life

Alzheimer's is a cruel disease, it causes someone to literally disintegrate before your very eyes.

BBC News 24

We are literally leading the world.

Tony Blair, about the Millennium Dome

Britain is literally turning into a nation of couch potatoes.

Article about obesity, Today Programme, BBC Radio 4

The NHS is literally straining every sinew.

Alan Milburn, BBC Radio 5

The website literally caught my eye.

Trey, Live and Kicking, BBC1

This company with its tiny generators could quite literally change the world.

Finance website

I literally work over the road.

Internet mailing list

The US presidency was literally suspended overnight.

John Snow, Channel 4 News

A section of Cardiff Bay only supported literally a handful of Curlew.

BTO Employee

People have literally voted with their feet.

Radio 5, on the Great North Run

Sorry this report is so late, but Ralph's computer got stuck by lightning (literally!) and this put him out of action for a while.

UKBN Posting

It's over us - literally on top of us

Cockney Birder at Cliff Swallow twitch, Portland, September 2000

I was literally in a shop.

- BBC Radio 5 (most-boring-but-actually-correct-use-of-the-word!)

The fuel crisis caused people to literally take off into hysteria.

- BBC Radio 5

I found the book in a shop in Paris whilst literally browsing through the shelves.

- BBC Radio 4

The news should literally jump out at the reader.

- Shares Magazine

He literally flew around the bowl.

- BBC Olympic Cycling Commentator

Vialli was literally bowled over and flabbergasted.

- BBC Football Focus

They literally, LITERALLY ring the church bells in Italy when a Ferrari wins.

- Murray Walker, Italian Grand Prix

My heart almost literally bleeds when I see Jacques Villeneuve out.

- Murray Walker, Italian Grand Prix

You need to have eyes in the back of your head, literally.

- Norfolk Garage Attendant

The viewer literally becomes a Meercat.

- Mischievous Meercats, Discovery Channel

The toilet is quite literally a shit-hole.

- Craig Cash describing the "gentleman's room" on an Indian train (strictly speaking, this is correct!)

Flouride in water is literally a cocktail of contaminants.

- Campaign Director, National Pure Water Association

Darren Gough really is bowling superbly, he's literally on fire.

- Michael Slater, Channel 4

Slovenia literally took their eye off the ball.

- Mark Lawrenson, BBC MOTD

Africa is not just a place you go to with binoculars and just observe. You literally inhale her.

- Kim Basinger talking about being on location for her new film

The team literally froze

- unhappy Shrewsbury Town fan, BBC Radio 5

You need to get literally get the operator on the phone

- Tutor, Computing Course

Dave on the phones' head has quite literally exploded

- BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show

Schumacher literally blew the socks off the opposition in Malaysia.

- Grand Prix Legends Newletter

That was literally a tune and a half.

- Sara Cox, BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show

Computer viruses can literally wipe your disk clean!

- Peter Lack, BTO Head of IT

WAP literally puts the Internet in your pocket.

- BT Cellnet website

A good England performance can literally lift the spirits of the nation.

- Tim Lamb, English Cricket Board, BBC Radio 5

The Stadium of Light literally shakes with noise.

- Tony Gubba, Match of the Day

I fell off the plank because, literally, my legs went to jelly.

- Davina McCall, Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, BBC Radio 1

Arsenal literally swept Wimbledon aside

- Mark Lawrenson, Match Of The Day

The Indonesians literally pulled themselves up by their bootlaces

- BBC Radio 5

Toadfish is eating out of Lou's hand - literally!

- Neighbours

After leaving prison, I was literally a time-bomb waiting to go off

- ex-con, BBC2

The horse literally floats across the field

- Pet Rescue

I was re-born - literally!

- ITV lunchtime news

The nation was literally gripped by the storyline

- Lowry, BBC2

The economy is literally spiralling out of control

- BBC Radio 5

You bounced two direct debits on this man and he's literally up in arms.

· Lloyds TSB person

I got chased by some wasps and had to literally leave my notebook in the field and run.

· John Martin, WEBS count at Axe Estuary (and he did literally leave his notebook and run!)

It [White-tailed Eagle] is literally like an ironing board.

· Simon King, BBC Wildlife Programme

Chelsea, being pushed forwards by this big house, are literally crucifying the Wearsiders.

· Local radio station, quoted by Harry Pearson in 'The Far Corner'

We have literally got fingers in pies all over the place.

· Chairman of Bristol Chamber of Commerce

He literally kicked the ball through a cloud of defenders.

· BBC Radio 5 Live, Derby v Leeds, 5/12/1999

I've just come here, literally hotfoot, from the Davis Cup draw this morning

· Ian Carter, BBC Radio 5 Live

We can not, of course, compete with Thornbury, where you are literally treated like a leopard if you don't have a hanging basket outside your shop.

· Chairman of Portishead in Bloom

The cove is literally full of Kittawakes (sic).

· Mark Carwardine in Iceland

He [wealthy politican] is literally ploughing money into the campaign.

· World Tonight, BBC Radio 4

The bird literally dropped out of the sky as I was photographing a Grey-tailed Tattler

· Rich Fuller, in his submission for Halmahera's first Little Curlew
(A genuine
BUBO literally!)

He literally got into the right shape of mind.

· Sally Gunnell, reporting on Dwain Chambers' 100m
bronze medal at the World Championships in Seville

Denise Lewis literally bounced back in the High Jump.

· David Coleman

You can literally see the drivers wrestling with the wheels.

· BBC South Today, report on powerboat racing

We are literally being asked to jump onto glass.

· David Trimble (or some other Unionist),
regarding the Northern Ireland peace talks

He will literally have the sun in his pocket.

· Scaramanga, The Man with the Golden Gun

There has been a literally seismic shift in Sinn Fein's position.

· Tony Blair, BBC Radio 5

There are only a handful of teachers, literally, earning £40,000 a year.

· BBC Radio 5

By paying your building insurance with your mortgage you could be literally throwing your money away.

· Direct Line TV commercial

We've literally head-hunted the best group of buyers in the business.

· QVC Shopping Channel

Paula Radcliffe is literally chasing the clock.

· Brendan Foster, Balmoral Invitation Five Mile Road Race, April 1999

You are quite literally bursting for a pee by the time you get to the car.

· Damon Hill

He literally blew his opponent away.

· Ian Carter, BBC Radio 5, report on a Tennis match

I come from Boscastle, where I remember the harbour being literally full of Grey Seals.

· Tutor, Computing course

Following 15 years of research, results are literally flooding out of the laboratories.

· BBC Radio 4

Genetically modified crops are made by taking part of the DNA from one plant and literally firing it into another plant.

· BBC Radio 4

The corporate market is being projected to literally explode at over 200 percent.

· Report on Internet telephony, Faulkner Information Services

Following Hurricane Mitch, food supplies in Honduras have literally been running out.

· BBC Radio 4

Two Mafia bosses escaped from a courthouse literally from under the noses of their guards.

· BBC Radio 4

They are trying to literally drive the mud out of town.

· BBC News reporter

I was petrified, literally petrified.

· Survivor of fire, BBC South Local News

What was it like when literally the whole world stopped to notice you?

· John Inverdale, On Side, BBC1

We have literally barrow-loads of evidence that cigarette advertising does not increase smoking habits.

· Max Mosley, BBC Radio 5

Hartson had to literally fight for the ball.

· Alan Parry, Sky Sports, West Ham v Arsenal

They're literally signing the peace process on the bodies of dead men.

· Member of public, Northern Ireland, BBC Radio 5

One lottery winner literally blew his fortune of £2.5 million.

· Today Programme, BBC Radio 4

I was literally incandescent with rage.

· Unnamed politician

The parents were literally whisked around the school.

· Teacher, Thornhill High School

Space-station Mir is literally a few tin cans joined together.

· Space correspondent, BBC Radio 5

Hingis is literally threatening the worms under the ground.

· Tennis commentator, BBC Radio 5

We had to literally suspend trading for the afternoon.

· Disgruntled businessman, BBC Look North

James literally swallowed the ball into his chest.

· Gary Stevens, BBC Radio 5, Southampton v Liverpool

Zola literally clubs the ball around the park.

· Trevor Steven, BBC Radio 5, Sunderland v Chelsea

The sound system was literally deafening to the people in the nearby village.

· West Country News