"casualty"

[Dave Wilton]

An excellent example of taking a passage out of context can make it seem silly. Immediately preceding this sentence at the end of the previous paragraph is, " But research in the past 15 years has shown that they can be left on for two hours without causing permanent harm to limbs. Now every soldier carries a tourniquet and is instructed to put one on any severely bleeding limb and not think of taking it off."

In context, it's clear the reporter is not claiming that tourniquets are a new invention. What is new are their  use for prolonged periods and that individual soldiers have been issued them.

I admit the last sentence isn't the greatest, and the copy editor (assuming the Post has any left) should have amended it to is, "Issuing tourniquets as part of the first-aid kit carried by every soldier is a big part..." But it's not as dumb as it seems at first glance.


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Paul Frank
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 2:55 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "casualty"

>>From yesterday's Washington Post:

"Tourniquets have saved at least 1,000 lives, and possibly as many as
2,000, in the past eight years. This soldier is almost certainly one
of them. They're a big part of why only about 10 percent of casualties
in these wars have died, compared with 16 percent in Vietnam."

Paul

Paul Frank
Translator
German, French, Italian > English
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Tel. +41 77 4096132
paulfrank at post.harvard.edu
paul.frank at bfs.admin.ch

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