to shadow (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Gordon, Matthew J.]

Seems in keeping with the common use in "job shadowing" which is covered by OED sense 12d:
"To accompany (a person) at work, esp. for a short period, either for training purposes or to gain understanding of the profession in question."
with examples back to 1975.

-Matt Gordon
________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Mullins, Bill AMRDEC [Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL]
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 3:59 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: to shadow (UNCLASSIFIED)

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
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Rather than the definition you give, I'd interpret "shadow" as "stick
close to for a length of time".



> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
Behalf Of
> Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 3:56 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: to shadow
>
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
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> Subject:      to shadow
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> -
>
> "To provide continuing on-the-scene news coverage of":
>
> 2010 Dexter Filkins in _N.Y. Times_  (May 14) [online version]:
Sebastian
> Junger...spent months shadowing an American infantry platoon deployed
in the
> valley.
>
> Now to all normal humans, this suggests that Junger was probably
working for
> the Taliban, but in fact no. Everybody knew he was there (duh!) as an
> American war correspondent. He wasn't tailing them stealthily, as
Filkins
> (b. 1961, Pulitzer Prize 2002) suggests to those of us of a certain
age.
> Junger was so "close to the action" that he was riding in an APC with
> members of the platoon when it was rocked by a command-detonated IED.
>
> Not what my geriatrifying brain would call "shadowing" the platoon.
>
> I'm also sure I've heard this usage before on TV news, undoubtedly
within
> the past couple of years.
>
> JL
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
truth."
>
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