No word annoys me quite like "literally". It literally gets up my nose. It quite literally gets on my tits. It makes me see red. Literally.

The papers are literally full of ads for "Iris", the film about Iris Murdoch, the writer who literally lost her mind. According to these ads, "Judi Dench gives a performance which literally screams out for an Oscar". I can picture the scene:

Towards the end of the film, Judi plays the dying Iris, bedridden, in the grip of Alzheimers. Confused, bewildered, she reaches out a trembling hand to her husband. Her eyes literally roll around the room. Suddenly she throws off the bed covers, stands up and screams to the camera, "Give me an Oscar, for fuck's sake! Can't you see how I'm acting my heart out?" Literally?