The dictionary states the definition as ‘in a literal way or sense’ but adds that, informally, it can be ‘used for emphasis rather than being actually true’ such as ‘we were literally killing ourselves laughing’.  Fiona McPherson, senior editor, said the new sense was added to the dictionary in September 2011, but seemed to have gone unnoticed. Senior OED editor Fiona McPherson commented in jest: ‘It seems to have literally slipped under the radar.’ 
 
 The move will be a relief to commentators and politicians who have been ridiculed for using the word incorrectly. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, last year described low-rate taxpayers as “literally living in a different galaxy”, while Sir Ian Botham, the cricketer, in 2007 said batsmen surviving appeals for leg-before-wicket dismissals had been “getting away with murder, literally”. Mark Twain used the more modern sense of the word in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He wrote: ‘And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth.’ 
 
 
 
 However, the oldest documented incorrect use of the word is in 1769 when the author Frances Brooke wrote, in The History of Emily Montague: ‘He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival; it is literally to feed among the lilies.’ 
 
 
 
 Miss McPherson said: ‘Our job is to describe the language people are using. The only reason this sense is included is because people are using it in this way. ‘Words have changed their meaning ever since the first word was uttered. Meat used to mean all food but now its sense has narrowed.’ 
 
 
 
 At least, when explaining how people incorrectly use it, the dictionary still seems to slightly scold the person delivering the wrong word.
– A recent change to the Oxford English Dictionary must have pedants ripping their hair out ... literally. It went unnoticed, but the OED added an additional meaning to the word "literally" two years ago because people use the word for exaggerated effect, the Daily Mail reports. "Our job is to describe the language people are using," said OED Senior Editor Fiona McPherson. "The only reason this sense is included is because people are using it the wrong way." But as the Telegraph points out, using "literally" for emphasis is nothing new. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain writes that his protagonist "was literally rolling in wealth." The 1769 novel The History of Emily Montague records the earliest known "wrong" use of the word, describing a character as lucky to meet "a party of fine women": "It is literally to feed among the lilies." Besides, says McPherson, word meanings change quite often: "Meat used to mean all food but now its sense has narrowed."