I literally can't wait . . .

I can't help wondering whether editors of magazines sometimes deliberately dumb down contributions from better writers than themselves. Did Fiona Bruce, of the Antiques Roadshow, really say (or write) "I literally can't wait to see what Nancy Dell'Olio [of 'Strictly'] is up to every week" ? Surely not.

To start with, we have no choice in such a matter: there is no way that we can see now, at this moment, what will happen next week . You jolly well have to wait. But of course, the 'can't wait' idiom is only a fun way of expressing eager anticipation*. Not, though, to whoever penned that statement attributed to Ms Bruce. She 'literally' can't wait; and 'literally' means 'actually, really, no kidding, not pretending, truly, in fact, not in imagination, not mere idiom'. So how does she manage actually and really not to wait ? Three options seem to be available: (a) the use of an effective crystal ball; (b) give up trying to wait, and forget it; or (c) drop dead.

*Even the word anticipation has been dumbed down. It's component parts (of Latin origin) mean 'capturing beforehand' - and that is exactly what its sixteenth century inventors intended it to mean - to do something beforehand, to take action now that will deal with a problem or an opportunity when it occurs; not just the feeble 'to hope or expect'. If you go to meet someone at the station, and there they are, getting off the train, you have anticipated their arrival. If they weren't on the train after all, you haven't actually anticipated it. You never did; you just wrongly expected* it.

* But wait ! Even the word 'expect' has lost its original potency. It too is derived from Lain, and its true meaning used to be to 'watch out for something until it happens'. In fact it could be used as a synonym for 'anticipate.' But it's too late to rescue the term now.

I literally can't wait . . .