Actually, I'm going to literally wave my magic wand

I would like you all to participate in an exercise. Don't use the words "actually" or "literally."

I would especially like it if you don't use them when speaking to me. These two words are being unnecessarily and incorrectly inserted into conversations at an alarmingly increasing rate.

Have you noticed?

This stuff happens all the time. Trends, I guess. For a long time the word "like" became so overused it was a joke. It's still overused, but it's different than "literally" and "actually." To me, people use the word "like" as a filler, the way they use "ummm" and "uhhh." They arent' really sure how to express their thoughts, either because they don't know enough good descriptive words or because they haven't decided what they really think.

In contrast, people seem to use the words "literally" and "actually" to emphasize things that don't need emphasis. And they often use them incorectly. I always cringe when someone uses the word "literally" when the correct word to use would be "figuratively."

I'm sure with the increasing traffic on this blog, the word will spread and soon the words will stop being used entirely for a time, and then return to correct usage. But just in case, I'm going to use the magic wand to remove them from the lexicon.