h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This morning, I heard someone on the radio saying that "Royal Mail's pension fund is literally a black hole in their finances". I know what he meant, but the image made me snigger slightly anyway.
So, what's the funniest example you've come across of someone saying "literally" when they don't mean it?

Ally McCoist, football pundit on ITV talking about a striker's recent scoring spree.

'He's literally on fire, Des!'

Wor mate Keegan:

"We were literally sitting ducks out there"

B

There's an occasinal column in, and I think book produced by, Private Eye called "Literally Balls".

Sports commentators who lets ace it arent always hired because o their skill with words but more or their passion and knowledge about sport somtin=mes come unstuck with words.

My favourite one was a commnetator saying "He's literally thrown his right foot at that"

not meaning to spoil what is likely to be a very entertaining thread, but 'literally' can also mean 'in effect'; a usage which 'is pure hyperbole intended to gain emphasis' and often not therefore the howler the grammar police assume. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally

apologies for breaking the flow, please continue with these pearlers.

The OED notes the other usage as 'informal'. Which is fair enough.

This long page on the matter, which I haven't bothered reading completely but is strangely interesting (http://www.robertfulford.com/literally.html), has this gem:

"she was literally a mother to him."

Yes it does annoy me when people do this. Kate Beckinsale mentioned when she did the first Underworld movie, she was literally a fish out of water.

literally literal about the word literal. does mr fulford know how silly that is?

informal is fine. it just means ordinary usage. he should take the stick out.

In the following, "young one" means "daughter". "Do be" means "are (continuous)".

"The oldest young one and the youngest young one do be literally glued to the television."