First, I wondered when something counts as new usage instead of wrong usage. Then, I wondered how new it actually was. The OED seems to date this improper usage back to 1687. ("Now often improperly used to indicate that some conventional metaphorical or hyperbolical phrase is to be taken in the strongest admissible sense. (So, e.g., in quot. 1863.))
(The quotation from 1863 was someone who said he was "literally coining money" when presumably he was just making an excessive profit.)
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winterfish
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Date: 2009-09-20 09:24 pm (UTC)(The quotation from 1863 was someone who said he was "literally coining money" when presumably he was just making an excessive profit.)