What is the literal meaning of a word

The literal meaning is the most obvious or non-figurative sense of a word or words. Language that’s not perceived as metaphorical, ironic, hyperbolic, or sarcastic. Contrast with figurative meaning or non-literal meaning. Noun: literalness.

Gregory Currie has observed that the «literal meaning of ‘literal meaning’ is as vague as that of ‘hill’.» But just as vagueness is no objection to the claim that there are hills, so it is no objection to the claim that there are literal meanings.» (Image and Mind, 1995).

Examples and Observations

«Dictionary definitions are written in literal terms. For example, ‘It is time to feed the cats and dogs.’ This phrase ‘cats and dogs’ is used in a literal sense, for the animals are hungry and it is time to eat. «Figurative language paints word pictures and allows us to ‘see’ a point. For example: ‘It is raining cats and dogs!’ Cats and dogs do not really fall from the sky like rain… This expression is an idiom.» (Passing the Maryland High School Assessment in English, 2006)

«The sea, the great unifier, is man’s only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat.» (Jacques Cousteau, National Geographic, 1981)

Zack: «I haven’t been to a comic book store in literally a million years.»
Sheldon Cooper: «Literally? Literally a million years?»
(Brian Smith and Jim Parsons in «The Justice League Recombination.» The Big Bang Theory, 2010)

Processing Literal and Non-Literal Meanings

How do we process metaphorical utterances? The standard theory is that we process non-literal language in three stages. First, we derive the literal meaning of what we hear. Second, we test the literal meaning against the context to see if it is consistent with it. Third, if the literal meaning does not make sense with the context, we seek an alternative, metaphorical meaning.

«One prediction of this three-stage model is that people should ignore the non-literal meanings of statements whenever the literal meaning makes sense because they never need to proceed to the third stage. There is some evidence that people are unable to ignore non-literal meanings… That is, the metaphoric meaning seems to be processed at the same time as the literal meaning.» (Trevor Harley, The Psychology of Language. Taylor & Francis, 2001)

‘What’s the Difference?’

«[A]sked by his wife whether he wants to have his bowling shoes laced over or laced under, Archie Bunker answers with a question: ‘What’s the difference?’ Being a reader of sublime simplicity, his wife replies by patiently explaining the difference between lacing over and lacing under, whatever this may be, but provokes only ire. ‘What’s the difference’ did not ask for the difference but means instead ‘I don’t give a damn what the difference is.’ The same grammatical pattern engenders two meanings that are mutually exclusive: the literal meaning asks for the concept (difference) whose existence is denied by the figurative meaning.» (Paul de Man, Allegories of Reading: Figural Language in Rousseau, Nietzsche, Rilke, and Proust.​​​ Yale University Press, 1979)

Literally and Figuratively

«People have used literally to mean figuratively for centuries, and definitions to this effect have appeared in The Oxford English Dictionary and The Merriam-Webster Dictionary since the early 1900s, accompanied by a note that such usage might be ‘considered irregular’ or ‘criticized as a misuse.’ But literally is one of those words that, regardless of what’s in the dictionary—and sometimes because of it—continues to attract an especially snooty breed of linguistic scrutiny. It is a classic peeve.» (Jen Doll, «You’re Saying It Wrong.» The Atlantic, January/February 2014)

Distinction Between Sentence Meaning and Speaker Meaning

It is crucial to distinguish between what a sentence means (i.e., its literal sentence meaning) and what the speaker means in the utterance of the sentence. We know the meaning of a sentence as soon as we know the meanings of the elements and the rules for combining them. But of course, notoriously, speakers often mean more than or mean something different from what the actual sentences they utter mean. That is, what the speaker means in the utterance of a sentence can depart in various systematic ways from what the sentence means literally. In the limiting case, the speaker might utter a sentence and mean exactly and literally what they say. But there are all sorts of cases where speakers utter sentences and mean something different from or even inconsistent with the literal meaning of the sentence.

«If, for example, I now say, ‘The window is open,’ I might say that, meaning literally that the window is open. In such a case, my speaker meaning coincides with the sentence meaning. But I might have all sorts of other speaker’s meanings that do not coincide with the sentence meaning. I might say ‘The window is open,’ meaning not merely that the window is open, but that I want you to close the window. A typical way to ask people on a cold day to close the window is just to tell them that it is open. Such cases, where one says one thing and means what one says, but also means something else are called ‘indirect speech acts.'» (John Searle, «Literary Theory and Its Discontents.» New Literary History, Summer 1994)

Lemony Snicket on Literal and Figurative Escapes

«It is very useful, when one is young, to learn the difference between ‘literally and figuratively.’ If something happens literally, it actually happens; if something happens figuratively, it feels like it’s happening. If you are literally jumping for joy, for instance, it means you are leaping in the air because you are very happy. If you are figuratively jumping for joy, it means you are so happy that you could jump for joy, but are saving your energy for other matters. The Baudelaire orphans walked back to Count Olaf’s neighborhood and stopped at the home of Justice Strauss, who welcomed them inside and let them choose books from the library. Violet chose several about mechanical inventions, Klaus chose several about wolves, and Sunny found a book with many pictures of teeth inside. They then went to their room and crowded together on the one bed, reading intently and happily. Figuratively, they escaped from Count Olaf and their miserable existence. They did not literally escape, because they were still in his house and vulnerable to Olaf’s evil in loco parentis ways. But by immersing themselves in their favorite reading topics, they felt far away from their predicament, as if they had escaped. In the situation of the orphans, figuratively escaping was not enough, of course, but at the end of a tiring and hopeless day, it would have to do. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny read their books and, in the back of their minds, hoped that soon their figurative escape would eventually turn into a literal one.» (Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning, or Orphans! HarperCollins, 2007)

The literal sense of a word or phrase is its most basic sense. A literal translation is one in which you translate each word of the original work rather than giving the meaning of each expression or sentence using words that sound natural.

What is a synonym for the word literally?

indeed. indubitably. legitimately. literally. no ifs ands or buts.

What is current slang for cool?

Dope – Cool or awesome. GOAT – “Greatest of All Time” Gucci – Good, cool, or going well. Lit – Amazing, cool, or exciting.

Is yeah a formal word?

In an informal setting, where it is being used to agree, affirm, or in the place of the word yes, yeah is the more modern, preferred, and commonly used version. If it is being used in a more formal setting, like a job interview, the formal yes would be the more appropriate choice over yea or yeah.

Is Yup a rude word?

It is just a variant of “yes”. In some regions, more people say “yup” than say “yes”. Those are not rude or impatient people.

When did Yeah become a word?

Yea is by no means a recent entry into the language—its origin can be traced all the way back to the Old English word gēa. Yeah is usually classified as yes’s less formal sister. It originated around the beginning of the twentieth century, so there are no Old English words it can be traced to.

What does Yeah mean from a girl?

okay, whatever you say

Why do we say Yeah instead of yes?

Yeah is a variation of yes, used in informal conversation. The trick is to know when it is appropriate: usually with peers, for casual conversation, less so for questions which are asked by bosses, or in writing.

Why do British say yeah?

Originally Answered: Why do the British say “yeah”? They (we) say it to express agreement, affirmation and approval, but that’s probably not what you mean. Yes, we say “yeah”. We also say “aye”, and “ar”, and “yep”, and “yer”, and “mm” (which I’m told is a word meaning “yes” in Bengali).

Why do we say yeah?

It’s a speech pattern that’s in style right now. They do it when they agree or disagree and usually as a response when someone states their opinion. It’s a way of showing you are in line with someone. When they say “yeah, no….” it’s not really saying “no.”

Does yeah mean happy?

Yea is an affirmative vote. Yeah is casual form of yes. Yay, a homophone of yea, is an exclamation that signals joy or happiness. You can remember that neither yea or democracy have the letter H, and both are related to voting.

Why do we say um?

Some studies show that we use “um” to signal longer pauses, and “uh” to signify shorter ones. Linguist Mark Liberman believes that we say “um” when we’re trying to decide what to say, and “uh” when we’re trying to decide how to say it. For example, I’ve noticed a lot of people say “so” instead of “uh” or “um”.

How do you say the word yeah?

“Yeah” is pronounced yah-uh.

What type of word is yeah?

adverb

Is yea same as Yeah?

“Yea” is a very old-fashioned formal way of saying “yes,” used mainly in voting. It’s the opposite of—and rhymes with—“nay.” When you want to write the common casual version of “yes,” the correct spelling is “yeah” (sounds like “yeh” ).

What is literal meaning?

According to Your Dictionary, literal meaning refers to the explicit meaning of a word or literal meaning of a sentence. In the context of utterance of a sentence, this refers to the truth-conditions or set of background assumptions that we take as an assumption of the truth. We assume that the semantic content uses literal language. The literal notation is different from the figurative sense; denotation versus connotation. Often, we take things in a literal sense for the literal truth. The word literal has been used since Middle English comes from Old French, the Latin littera and Late Latin litterālis. The word literal is an adjective. This word can be used in many different contexts, such as a literal translation versus a translation that uses figures of speech, a literal description versus an exaggeration, a literal mind that can only take exact words in a strict sense or unimaginative way, and more. These semantics of pragmatics are important to understand in comparison to figurative language. 

Many different languages also contain words that mean literal. You may notice that some of these translations of literal look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of literal is provided by Word Sense. 

• Greek: κατά γράμμα‎
• Mandarin: 字面‎ (zìmiàn)
• Dutch: letterlijk‎
• Catalan: literal‎
• Icelandic: bókstaflegur‎
• Portuguese: literal‎
• Danish: bogstavelig‎
• German: wörtlich‎, buchstäblich‎
• Swedish: bokstavlig‎
• French: littéral‎
• Galician: literal‎
• Finnish: kirjaimellinen‎, sananmukainen‎
• Romanian: literally‎ (masc.) (n), literală‎ (fem.)
• Armenian: բառացի‎
• Russian: буква́льный‎, досло́вный‎
• Spanish: literal‎
• Macedonian: буквален‎ (bukvalen)
• Czech: doslovný‎ (masc.)
• Japanese: 逐語的‎
• Italian: letterale‎, alla lettera‎

What are examples of literal?

The word literal can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of literal that can help get you started incorporating this word into your everyday use. 

•  The participants in the trial are given a literal set of criterion to assess.
•  Katz and Wilson took Sperber literally and instead of drawing a bath, drew a picture of a bath. What relevance a drawing had, he did not know.
•  There was a literal inaccuracy and misprint in the book in the form of a typographical error. It was off by a single letter, but needed to be in exact accordance or it changed the meaning. 

What are synonyms and antonyms of literal?

There are many different words that one can use in place of the word literal. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same meaning as another word or phrase. Synonyms are a useful tool to know in the English language because they can help people to avoid repeating themselves while simultaneously growing their vocabulary. This list of synonyms for the word literal is provided by Power Thesaurus. 

•  meticulous
•  narrow
•  word for word
•  unvarnished
•  error
•  literally
•  corrigendum
•  authentic
•  literals
•  detailed
•  denotative
•  straightforward
•  specific
•  bona fide
•  undistorted
•  literal error
•  particular
•  true
•  proper
•  conventional
•  error-free
•  misprints
•  concrete
•  correct
•  narrowest
•  literal-minded
•  realistic
•  errata
•  methodical
•  on the money
•  actual
•  precise
•  dull
•  written
•  accurate
•  on the button
•  letter
•  genuine
•  objective
•  unexaggerated
•  unadulterated
•  explicit
•  conscientious
•  unerring
•  punctilious
•  factual
•  unembellished
•  verbatim
•  erratum
•  misprint
•  basic
•  veracious
•  usual
•  exact
•  real
•  apparent
•  word-for-word
•  simple
•  natural
•  good
•  pedantic
•  faithful
•  careful
•  definite
•  downright
•  faultless
•  honest
•  truthful
•  lexical
•  clear-cut
•  literatim
•  rigorous
•  direct
•  textual
•  letter-for-letter
•  bare
•  strict
•  veritable
•  pure
•  phrasal
•  plain
•  unrhetorical
•  boring
•  right
•  scrupulous
•  unimaginative
•  close
•  matter-of-fact
•  narrower
•  perfect
•  mistake
•  verbal
•  valid
•  just
•  ordinary
•  typo
•  typographical error
•  veridical
•  prosaic
•  rigid

The word literal also has a number of antonyms, or opposite words. These words have the opposite definition as the word spectrum. Learning antonyms is another quick and easy way to expand your English language vocabulary. This list of antonyms of literal is also provided by Power Thesaurus. 

•  imaginary
•  disorganized
•  fishy
•  guileful
•  erroneous
•  imprecise
•  metaphorical
•  faked
•  concocted
•  fabricated
•  forged
•  dissembling
•  ambiguous
•  deceiving
•  fictitious
•  analogical
•  artificial
•  iffy
•  mistaken
•  allegoric
•  bogus
•  inexact
•  indefinite
•  hollow
•  duplicitous
•  amorphous
•  coloured
•  surreal
•  fuzzy
•  wrong
•  biased
•  deceitful
•  untruthful
•  romantic
•  exaggerated
•  counterfactual
•  dissimulating
•  corrupt
•  in error
•  approximate
•  anomalous
•  corrupted
•  imperfect
•  inexistent
•  inequitable
•  colored
•  dishonest
•  imaginative
•  counterfeit
•  allegorical
•  not close
•  illogical
•  abnormal
•  nonliteral
•  distorted
•  incorrect
•  dodgy
•  improper
•  fanciful
•  hypothetical
•  invalid
•  specious
•  unreliable
•  factitious
•  inaccurate
•  conjectural
•  cooked-up
•  indirect
•  atypical
•  unsound
•  figural
•  deviant
•  ideal
•  invented
•  fantastic
•  fancy
•  fallacious
•  untrue
•  inauthentic
•  false
•  aberrant
•  apocryphal
•  faulty
•  fictional
•  assuming
•  extended
•  loose
•  tropical
•  illegitimate
•  inappropriate
•  emblematic
•  dicey
•  careless
•  flawed
•  fake
•  figurative
•  defective
•  incomplete
•  fraudulent
•  deceptive

What are other literary techniques and devices?

There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these devices because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of literary devices from Reedsy and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you. 

•  Litotes
•  Anachronism
•  Juxtaposition
•  Chiasmus
•  Point of view
•  Motif
•  Tone
•  Onomatopoeia
•  Tragicomedy
•  Colloquialism
•  Isocolon
•  Imagery
•  Malapropism
•  Soliloquy
•  Allusion
•  Euphemism
•  Aphorism
•  Foreshadowing
•  Frame story
•  Paradox
•  Anastrophe
•  Metonymy
•  Repetition
•  Anaphora
•  Dramatic irony
•  Archetype
•  Zoomorphism
•  Irony
•  Metaphor
•  Cumulative sentence
•  Polysyndeton
•  Flashback
•  Satire
•  Personification
•  Simile
•  Exposition
•  Symbolism
•  Anthropomorphism
•  In Medias Res
•  Synecdoche
•  Allegory
•  Tmesis
•  Tautology
•  Hypophora
•  Oxymoron

Overall, the word literal means exactly as stated.

Sources:

1. literal: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense 
2. Literary Devices | Reedsy
3. Literal Meaning | Best 18 Definitions of Literal | Your Dictionary 
4. Literal antonyms – 286 Opposites of Literal | Power Thesaurus 
5. Literal synonyms – 743 Words and Phrases for Literal | Power Thesaurus 

A word’s literal meaning is its denotation, typically its most basic dictionary definition.

On the other hand, connotation is feelings and values which we tend to associate with a word.

For instance, in the case of loanshark, the denotation would be a person who lends money. Its connotation would be of greediness, lack of feeling, and disreputableness.

The literal meaning of a word can be opposed to its figurative meaning. A word’s figurative meaning is its meaning when it is used metaphorically. For example in the metaphorical expression «Expect a sea of people this weekend», the word «sea» does not have the literal meaning of a large body of salt water, but is used to describe the motion of a large crowd. When metaphors of this kind are used a lot, they become cliches and people tend to forget that the meaning was figurative. This is one way that the meaning of words changes. For example, the word «heaven» used to have the literal meaning «sky».