"justify": another reversal

[Dave Wilton]

Of those 1500 ghits, only about 13 are actual hits. The others are
repetitions and quotes of the original. And in some of the 13, the phrase is
being used ironically--expressing the opinion that light punishment
encourages violations.

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 7:17 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "justify": another reversal

Add to the list that includes _ancestor_, _substitute_, and (soon) _*via_.

Said a college-grad Bad Girl this week, "I don't think the punishment
justifies the crime!"  She meant it didn't fit the crime.

I was going to ignore this as a foolish slip. Then I found nearly 1500 raw
Googlits for "punishment justifies the crime."

JL
--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org