Actually it's not nearly as funny as you think. One of the definitions of "literally" has been "virtually" in a metaphoric, hyperbole, etc., context. This use was used by writers like Dryden and Pope, to indicate "what follows must be taken in the strongest admissible sense" in the 1600s. Yes, this is opposite to the word's original meaning coming from the 1500s, but considering it's been in use in this fashion from BEFORE the 20th century it isn't so far a stretch as to accept it as a proper use.
This is no different than the french "terrible" which now means "awesome". Plus, you are all 50 years too late for this debate. The American language unofficially changed from prescriptive to descriptive in 1961 with the publication of Merriam-Webster's 2nd International Dictionary.
Amen to that! It literally means to remove one in ten: i.e. cut by 10%. But literally no longer means what it should so we can all use any word in any way we want. It's all bollocks. Or do I mean confusing?
With all that ocean spray and all that glass, you know there's going to be a lot of window-cleaning in their future. Bet then they'll wish the bottom wasn't narrower than the top.
They're inviting disaster upon themselves. You can never be too far above the ocean to be safe from freakishly-high and powerful waves, unless you're in a plane, hot-air balloon or the space shuttle. Just ask the men who died aboard the Ocean Ranger - an oil rig off the coast of Newfoundland - when it went down back in the 80's. The computers that controlled the ballast tanks and pumps were all shorted out and destroyed when a rogue wave hit a porthole that wasn't storm-rated and smashed it out, letting water into the ballast control room. That porthole was approx. 70' above the waterline.
What a lovely idea....BUT... Cliffs exist because of erosion. The only way something that vertical is there in the first place is because it's constantly crumbling - otherwise it'd be a beach or a swamp or something gentler. The media are full of stories of houses falling into the sea because of costal erosion...and this looks like another, just waiting to happen.
My first apartment out of college was on the second floor. The living room had an entirely glass wall, floor to ceiling. Stepping near it made me really nervous, and it was only about 12 feet off the ground! My roommate and I couldn't afford a curtain that big, so we put a bunch of large houseplants there to form a barrier of sorts -it make us feel more at ease. I'm not afraid of heights, but having the glass all the way to the floor was weird. No way would I live in a cliff house, no matter how stable it is.
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You can never be too far above the ocean to be safe from freakishly-high and powerful waves, unless you're in a plane, hot-air balloon or the space shuttle.
Just ask the men who died aboard the Ocean Ranger - an oil rig off the coast of Newfoundland - when it went down back in the 80's. The computers that controlled the ballast tanks and pumps were all shorted out and destroyed when a rogue wave hit a porthole that wasn't storm-rated and smashed it out, letting water into the ballast control room. That porthole was approx. 70' above the waterline.
Cliffs exist because of erosion. The only way something that vertical is there in the first place is because it's constantly crumbling - otherwise it'd be a beach or a swamp or something gentler.
The media are full of stories of houses falling into the sea because of costal erosion...and this looks like another, just waiting to happen.