to shadow (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Could be. Time will tell.

It seems, however, to be a specifically journalistic usage, like "cover" or
"follow" (get it? "follow"/"shadow"; "cover"/"shadow").

By "on-the spot-coverage," I meant to imply that he was gathering news in
person, which I take to be essential to the meaning. But I don't want to
imply that he was *broadcasting* in (what's that they call it now?) "real
time," something the phrase "on-the-spot" might suggest.

JL
On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 4:59 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: to shadow (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> 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
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> ----------------------
> > -
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      to shadow
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------
> > -
> >
> > "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."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org