A lateral look at literal

Paul Parry, PowerPoint and a projector all combine to tell us why misuse of the word 'literally' is so wrong that an entire Fringe show must be given over to the topic.

If Al Gore can trot around the globe PowerPointing-out the dangers of global warming, then why can't Paul do the same for the equally important (to him anyway) bugbear of this common grammatical faux-pas?

Describing the show he's about to give us as “educational and almost amusing”, he tells us of his extreme annoyance at the non-literal use of “literally”, and how much pain it causes him. In fact, in order to show just how literal he can be, he undertook to go “from A to B” just to say that he had literally done so. Finding the small Norwegian town of 'A' and cycling from there to the town of 'Bee' in Nebraska, USA, he peppers his description of his journey with witty asides and the ever-present PowerPoint snaps and graphs of his travels along the way.

Covering other bad examples of misuse, he finds a variety of amusing things to say about such howlers as “I was literally rat-arsed”, and “he literally made a mountain out of a molehill”. Managing to identify particularly bad sources of annoyance is Paul's forte, such as news headlines and sports commentators who all too readily succumb to the bear trap that this phrase presents.

The comedy lecture can be difficult to pull off, and Paul pretty much nails it – coming across as a likeable (if somewhat obsessive-compulsive) guy. Catch his show for a pleasant hour of geek-comedy chuckles. [Gordon Johnston]