"due to" and "general"

[Chris F. Waigl]

On Tue, 2006-08-29 at 15:19 -0700, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

>   "We shall them [viz., women] 'those who are dangerous to see, due to
>  they are nasty'" (p. 36).
>
>   I have seen this "due to" in freshman writing used as a synonym for
>  "because; for the reason that" (as distinct from "because of"), but
>  OED doesn't include it.

I have a picture documenting the following use of "due to" on a
laser-printed sign in an upscale-ish deli in London:

----
Roasted chickens are temporarily unavailable at present due to chicken
oven out of order.
http://flickr.com/photos/lascribe/138332083/in/set-72057594117390961/
----

Chris Waigl

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