Subject: ravish = 'to ravage'

[Jonathan Lighter]

I confess I've never examined the contents of _Woe is I_, but for years I've
recognized the greatness of its title.

JL
On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 11:46 AM, Mailbox <mailbox at grammarphobia.com> wrote:

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> Subject:      Subject: ravish = 'to ravage'
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> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On  Wed, 13 Apr 2011 10:52:26 =E2=80=930400, Jonathan Lighter =
> <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote (in part):=20
>
> I believe it was Theodore Bernstein who alerted me to the fact that some
> writers confuse use _ravish_ when they "mean" _ravage_. As I recall, the
> horrible example involved locusts "ravishing" the landscape. ...
> JL
> ..............
> I swear this is true. When I was a graduate student in journalism at the =
> University of Minnesota in the early 1970s, we were asked to critique =
> batches of small-town newspapers from around the state. I spotted this =
> headline on a news item about an ocean liner, the Queen Elizabeth, which =
> had caught fire and burned in Hong Kong harbor:=20
> QUEEN ELIZABETH RAVISHED=20
> I used the story as a usage example in my book Woe Is I. I think the =
> newspaper was the Owatonna People=E2=80=99s Press, but it=E2=80=99s not =
> digitized so I can=E2=80=99t confirm. =20
> Pat O=E2=80=99Conner
>
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