The current obsession with "Gone Missing"

[Chris Waigl]

On 7 Jun 2009, at 19:12, Cohen, Gerald Leonard wrote:
>
> Is there any possibility of  English "gone missing" being influenced
> by =
> German "verloren gegangen" (=3D lost; missing)?


Without taking sides on your question: "verloren gehen" is not 100%
analogous to "go missing". I'd gloss it as "go lost". The direct gloss
of "go missing" into German, "fehlend gehen", does not exist in
German, and feels to me like violating something more fundamental (ie,
the present participle form + gehen). Of course, the -ing form is
*not* the same as a present participle, so that muddies the waters.

I'm a bit surprised at this opposition to "go missing" in the light of
"go bad", "go wrong" etc. I've not seen this opposition in Britain.

Cheers,

Chris

--
Chris Waigl -- http://chryss.eu -- http://eggcorns.lascribe.net
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