Literally, Please Improve Your Vocabulary

One pet peeve I share with many others is misuse of the word, "literally." And this dude misuses it twice in one story regarding this week's collision of two satellites.

Infraction #1:

"At physical contact at orbital speeds, a hypersonic shock wave bursts outwards through the structures," Oberg said in e-mailed comments. "It literally shreds the material into confetti and detonates any fuels."

Yeah, the impact of two huge satellite spontaneously produces "small pieces or streamers of colored paper."

Infraction #2:

"The collision offers a literally heaven-sent opportunity for the Obama administration to take forceful, visible and long-overdo measures to address a long-ignored issue of 'space debris,'" Oberg said.

However this happened, I'm sure that "God and the angels" are involved, and want Obama to address the issue.

Yeah, I know he's not a writer by trade. That doesn't mean it still can't bug me.

BOOM!

Hear that? It's the sound of the space weapons industry kicking into high gear.

The U.S. Navy today successfully intercepted its derelict spy satellite with a modified three-stage missile launch from a Pacific-based Aegis cruiser, handling a closing speed of over 22,000 mph! The old analogy of a bullet hitting a bullet doesn't do this accomplishment justice. Simply incredible.