the.com/literalism

means The practice of taking words at their exact, surface-level meaning, without room for metaphor, context, or intent.

from Built from 'literal,' which traces back to Latin 'littera' meaning 'letter' (as in alphabet letter). To be 'literal' originally meant sticking to the actual letters of a text — not the spirit behind them. Add the '-ism' suffix, which turns a quality into a doctrine or system, and you get a whole worldview built on never straying from the letter of the thing.