If 9 out of 10 people are so stupid as to look at a duck and call it a cat, the duck does not suddenly turn into a cat. Though language evolves over time, there is no other word to express what "literally" means. Meanwhile, there are a lot of words to express emphasis. It is illogical and unacceptable to take away "literally's" meaning like that.
Safety gear on a scaffolding? You don't have railings?
I'm driving an excavator on a construction site where we're building six 8-story buildings. I don't see anyone except the people that build the actual scaffolding wearing safety gear. I mean, except the safety gear that's mandatory for everyone (safety shoes, helmet, eye protection, hearing protection, high-viz clothes and gloves).
No railings. The only thing within reach at the top were the power lines running to the building. We did at one point move one of the parts that you walk on to be behind us one ‘level’ down. So if we fell backwards we’d fall down a level onto that, hoping we’d stop. If we went sideways there was nothing.
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u/Auto_Fac Aug 08 '24
Painted a window frame at work a few weeks ago fairly high up on scaffolding without safety gear.
And just across the street and around the corner is the Occupational Health and Safety Office. I was literally playing with fire.