[Ads-l] Outset

[Bwh031451]

Today, Telesur English featured a piece that was headlined:
“The people of Bolivia have accompanied the indigenous leader during his return a year after we was outset by a coup.”

I wondered if this was a sense of “outset” that I hadn’t encountered. It certainly made sense, as Morales had been set out by the coup, but I’d never seen it put quite that way.  A cursory scan of common dictionaries didn’t produce that sense.  How would we say it in English?  Perhaps “upset”, “deposed” or “thrown out”? 

Then it dawned on me. Perhaps they were trying to say “ousted” but seized on the eggcorn “outset” which seemed more reasonable. Especially for a Spanish translator, to whom “ousted” might look like a misspelling of “usted”!



Brian Hitchcock
At Large
Email:  bwh031451 at gmail.com

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