In article ,
Gianna writes:
On the subject of language (but off the subject of weather) I
accidentally saw a moment of 'Richard and Judy' while channel hopping
yesterday. There was a short piece of film showing some sort of food
before switching to Richard who said 'ah I can virtually smell that'.

I appreciate he is a native speaker and all that, but that is an
idiotic thing to say, isn't it?

I don't think so. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines "virtually" as:
1. in effect, to all intents; 2. nearly, almost.
--
John Hall

"I am not young enough to know everything."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)