The current obsession with "Gone Missing"

[Robert Hartwell Fiske]

"Gone" or "went missing" is, today, increasily heard and read (even the
oleaginous among you should agree to this). More to the point, this idiom, like
so many others, is -- and this was, or was meant to be, my main point --
not an exacting expression. It appeals to people who apparently cannot bother
with expressing themselves carefully or clearly.



* The boy went missing Monday, the day after his birthday. USE disappeared.

* In heavily Democratic Fulton County, in downtown Atlanta, 67 memory cards
from the voting machines went missing, delaying certification of the
results there. USE were misplaced.
* When a $250,000 boat went missing while docked at the foot of Grand
Street in Alameda, police seemed lost at sea. USE was stolen.
* A large and potentially hazardous asteroid that went missing for almost
66 years ago was re-discovered by astronomers on Wednesday morning. USE was
lost.
*  Fifteen people aboard the ship reportedly went missing. USE were
missing.
* Many went missing after joining the militant groups, while others
disappeared after being picked up by security forces for questioning. USE deserted.

*  The prisoner went missing around lunchtime, but prison staff did not
notice his absence until early evening. USE absconded.
* She's a grown woman, and reasonable people can and should understand
that, if they are going to go missing, they are going to cause public outcry.
USE disappear.


>From the Dictionary of Disagreeable English by Robert Hartwell Fiske


Robert Hartwell Fiske
Editor and Publisher
The Vocabula Review
_http://www.vocabula.com/_ (http://www.vocabula.com/)

Vocabula Books:
_http://www.vocabulabooks.com/_ (http://www.vocabulabooks.com/)


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