save = prevent?

[Lynne Murphy]

--On Friday, October 19, 2001 8:42 am -0500 Paul Ivsin
<paul at IMPLICATURE.COM> wrote:

> Here's one from an East Sussex County Council press release from December
> 1999 -- interesting because it uses two (seemingly contradictory) senses
> of "save" in the same sentence:
>
> ...   ...   ...
> A few moments thinking about the possible hazards and taking any necessary
> steps to remove them, could save a tragedy - or even a life.

Well, at least that answers the question of whether 'save a tragedy' was an
American usage!

Lynne in East Sussex


M Lynne Murphy
Lecturer in Linguistics
School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

phone +44-(0)1273-678844
fax   +44-(0)1273-671320