In his first speech as Sen. Barack Obama’s VP pick, Sen. Joe Biden wanted to be taken literally. Very literally. He had used the word six times before reaching the seven-minute mark.

“Folks, again, it’s not, it’s not political sloganeering when I say we literally can’t afford four more years of this non-energy policy, written by and for the oil companies making us more and more dependent from hostile nations on our ability to run this country and literally – not figuratively – literally putting America’s security at risk.”

You can tell the instruction of the Catholic nuns was haunting him, that bit about literal versus figurative. So he tried to make peace with the voices of his linguistic past by showing he remembered the distinction. The problem is he doesn’t remember how to make the distinction.

Literal means in a literal sense, with truth to the letter, exactly. You should use the word as a contrast to figuratively, which is metaphorical, something that stands for another.

In his book “Common Errors in English Usage,” English professor Paul Brians laments the overuse of literal. “Like ‘incredible,’ ‘literally’ has been so overused as a sort of vague intensifier that it is in danger of losing its literal meaning,” Brians writes. “Don’t say of someone that he ‘literally blew up’ unless he swallowed a stick of dynamite.”

Many things cannot be taken literally, so be sure there is both a figurative and literal interpretation before making the distinction. Few things Biden called literal in Springfield, Ill., can be taken literally.

Yes, our country literally can’t afford to continue certain policies, such as the Iraq war. We are falling deeper into debt every day.

But changing our nation’s direction is a figurative expression for changing our course. Making a mark on “day one” is precise enough that pointing out its literalness verges on redundant. And “the American way,” – Biden said, “that literally has been the American way” – can only be figurative.

Just as Michael Phelps excels in the final seconds of a swim, Biden dug deep and whipped out one more ‘l’ word in the final seconds of his speech. “Ladies and gentlemen, America gave Jill and me our chance. … It’s literally incredible, these values.”

Incredible, indeed.

QUICK HITS

· * * Sen. Obama switched from a singular noun to a plural pronoun in describing his VP choice : “Can this person help me govern? Are they going to be an effective partner in creating the kind of economic opportunity here at home…”

· * * Mechelle Lewis, of the U.S. women’s 4×100 relay team, talked about teammate Lauryn Williams’ bobbling the baton. “I wouldn’t be too happy if I was her,” Lewis said. The subjunctive mood is used to describe a condition contrary to fact and it calls for the verb were, not was. (Remember Tevye’s wistful song, “If I Were A Rich Man”?)

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* * ABC’s Bachelorette DeAnna Pappas updated her website’s homepage with an eight-sentence note that contains five ellipses. None is necessary.