I heard this from an apartment dweller in an HGTV television program.

Problem:
The adverb “literally” is incorrect here.

Explanation:
A bad habit has developed among many English speakers to use “literally” when “figuratively” is the correct adverb. They use “literally” as an intensifier. Unfortunately, this negates the true meaning of “literally”, which is actually, without exaggeration. The speaker in the above program was trying to say that she, her husband and her child had outgrown their small apartment. However, they still resided within the walls of their apartment, and the walls were still intact. The correct adverb to describe this situation is “figuratively”. The family had not literally burst out of the walls. Instead, the family had figuratively burst out of the walls.

I believe that the use of “literally” instead of “figuratively” represents

• carelessness with word meanings,
• a belief that “literally” sounds better than “figuratively”, and
• a laziness that favors shorter, fewer-syllable words over longer words.

Not only does “figuratively” have more syllables than “literally” has (five syllables vs. four syllables), but it also is more difficult to say. Throw in the abusive overuse of “literally” and the fact that it sounds more “literary”, and it’s no wonder that many English speakers choose it (incorrectly) instead of “figuratively”.

Solution:
“Figuratively, we’re bursting out of the walls.”