24. I don’t like the diluted version of “literally”, but I read something a while back that claimed that “very”, “truly”, “actually” and maybe some other ones all used to mean literally.

Now I can’t find my citation for this though and I wish I could.

— Divia Eden (@diviacaroline) December 19, 2019

Only sort of correct, but misses a huge amount of relevant context, philology and linguistics. “Literally” in its original usage indeed meant that the statement was to be parsed according to the exact definitions of the words that follow “literally.” The others, “very, truly, and actually,” refer not to the meaning of the words themselves that follow, but rather to the actual events or objects to which the words are referring.

So, while “very” originally meant “true” (via Latin “verus”), it did not refer as “literally” does to the meaning of the word themselves but points instead to the object or experiences to which the words that follow “very” refer. Quite a difference! And another large distinction: “very” is now fully transitioned to an intensifier in English, while “truly” and “actually” generally are not and instead still refer more to various perceived truth states rather than intensifying the adjective that follows.

“Very,” then, made the full transition to intensifier, with its archaic meaning of “true” found only in older writing, while “actually” and “truly” still tend to refer more to truth states rather than acting as pure intensifiers — thought that might change in the future, truly and actually.