[Ads-l] "disappear" as a transitive verb

[Jonathan Lighter]

But rarely for political reasons.

Or am I being naive?

JL

On Fri, Aug 28, 2020 at 6:57 PM MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY CCDC
AVMC (USA) <0000099bab68be9a-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Septimus Piesse _Chymical, natural and physical magic: intended for the
> instruction and entertainment of juveniles during the holiday vacation_ 3rd
> Edition.  London:  Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1865.  p. 94
>
> "At the theatres these tables are sometimes set close up to a side scene,
> so that the person 'disappeared,' can be drawn out of the hiding-place, and
> hurried to a private box, where he fires off a pistol to denote his
> presence."
>
>
> I'll note that transitive "disappear" is common in the conjuring
> literature -- magicians disappear things all the time.
>
> ----
>
> > Ben Zimmer mentioned in the thread from 2013 that the OED has
> > transitive "disappear" from 1897. Here is an instance in 1895.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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