Voters approved sick leave mandate by 58%, but lawmakers are caving to lobbying by the state’s chamber of commerce
Being sick is a costly business for Bill Thompson, who worked in the fast-food industry in Independence, Missouri, for more than 30 years, and recently worked at Guitar Center until early July, when he was laid off as.
“As an older worker, I have health issues from working on my feet and with my hands for many years with no breaks for eight to 10 hours a day. I have done it for 38 years now, living paycheck to paycheck,” 54-year-old Thompson said, noting in Missouri, workers are not mandated breaks of any kind during work.
So when Republicans in Missouri repealed a paid sick leave mandate that the state’s voters approved by 58% after an aggressive lobbying campaign by the Missouri chamber of commerce and industry and other business industry groups, he said, “It was a literal gut punch.”
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gut-punch
“something that shocks and upsets you very much: I was totally floored when I heard what happened - it was a gut punch.”
So I think the use of literally is still applicable.
Um, that’s the metaphorical definition of “gut punch”, not the literal one. The literal definition of “gut punch” is, well you know, when you take a punch to the gut. It’s when an actual fist suddenly displaces your favorite abdominal organs. Houdini was killed by a literal gut punch (rip). As far as I know, metaphorical gut punches only killed Padme (rip). Two totally different definitions, and the whole point of the word “literally” is to convey the correct one.
We literally can’t say that literally every phrase literally matching its dictionary definition (regardless if it’s the literal or metaphorical definition) can be literally prepended by the word “literally”, because that’s literally every phrase in the dictionary, literally (literally).
Modern dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. They document how language is used, and if an error becomes common enough it will show up in the dictionary.
For example, a lot of people say “alot” instead of “a lot”. If that happens enough, “alot” will be added to the dictionary.
Enough people now mistakenly say “literally” when they mean “figuratively” that that misuse is now documented in the dictionary.