[Ads-l] "casualty"

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Sun Mar 6 23:42:26 UTC 2022


When missiles hit things, their warheads explode. That means a great many
deaths/ injuries/ wounds/ casualties result from the customary hot steel
fragments.

But it may be that some journalists feel that "wounded" implies bullets
only (which it doesn't).

On Sun, Mar 6, 2022 at 4:57 PM Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

> Is part of the semantic change due to this being a war where few people are
> shooting at other people, but the injuries are mainly due to missiles
> hitting things, so the injuries are indirect?
>
> On Sun, Mar 6, 2022, 2:15 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > All I've been hearing on CNN and MSNBC has been "injured," not "wounded."
> >
> > NPR, March 2
> > https://www.npr.org/2022/03/02/1083968591/russia-ukraine-deaths-war  :
> >
> > "[T]he Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed a substantial number of
> > casualties in Ukraine, announcing that 498 Russian troops have died and
> > 1,597 more have been injured."...
> >
> > "Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that among
> > Ukrainian troops, 2,870 have been killed, around 3,700 injured and 572
> > captured."
> >
> > On Sun, Mar 6, 2022 at 12:32 PM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > I wonder if it correlates with "injured" being more likely to be used
> > when
> > > it's a shooting by police and "wounded" in shootings by others.
> > >
> > > Or perhaps "wounded" is carrying the connotation of military action.
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Sent: Saturday, March 5, 2022 10:48am
> > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "casualty"
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Quora.com:
> > >
> > > "In 6 weeks [in Iraq] the US accomplished its goal. In total, the US
> > > coalition suffered 196 casualties and 551 injuries."
> > >
> > > I've also noticed for several years that cable news types usually say
> > > people were "injured" in shootings or firefights, not "wounded." Minor,
> > > but curious.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Sun, Dec 27, 2020 at 6:31 AM Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > >
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > James Gagliano, former FBI Special Agent, on CNN a moment ago:
> > > >
> > > > "Thankfully there were [only] three injuries in this, but no
> > casualties.
> > > > Nobody was killed during this blast."
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > > >
> > > > On Sun, Jun 12, 2016 at 12:08 PM Jonathan Lighter <
> > > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> Of course he said "fifty-three" hospitalized.
> > > >>
> > > >> JL
> > > >>
> > > >> On Sun, Jun 12, 2016 at 11:56 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> > > >> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >> > The mayor of Orlando officially announces "fifty casualties and
> > > >> > forty-three hospitalized."
> > > >> >
> > > >> > A few minutes later a CNN anchor describes the crime as
> "grievious."
> > > >> >
> > > >> > And just after that, a former CIA officer analyzes the situation
> > > >> > "from an intelligence optic."
> > > >> >
> > > >> > JL
> > > >> >
> > > >> > On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 10:06 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > >> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > >> -----------------------
> > > >> >> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > >> >> Poster: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > > >> >> Subject: Re: "casualty"
> > > >> >>
> > > >>
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >> On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 12:56 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
> > > >> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > >> >> wrote:
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >>> wounded in action
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >> A.K.A. "WIA." I wonder WTF happened to "KIA" - "killed in
> action" -
> > > >> such
> > > >> >> that a foreign company can sell tens of thousands of cars bearing
> > the
> > > >> >> marque, "KIA," with no problem?
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >> --
> > > >> >> -Wilson
> > > >> >> -----
> > > >> >> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange
> > complaint
> > > to
> > > >> >> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > > >> >> -Mark Twain
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >> >
> > > >> >
> > > >> >
> > > >> > --
> > > >> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle
> the
> > > >> truth."
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> --
> > > >> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > > >> truth."
> > > >>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > > truth."
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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

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



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