to leave = 'to leave a bequest to'

[Jonathan Lighter]

One unused to linguistic ineptitude might think so, but the entire available
context strongly suggests otherwise. Short for "leaving them something."

No competent TV commercial would dare leave in the slightest perceivable
criticism of the "product."  A speaker who seemed to suggest to the ad's
editors that he'd even once considered leaving the SA out of his will would
never have gotten on the air.

JL


On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 12:25 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: to leave = 'to leave a bequest to'
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sorry, I meant the opposite-- leave==place is a variant of leave==leave in
> place
>
> On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 12:24 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Isn't this more like "leave in place", which is a variant of
> leave==place?
> > (i.e., I will include them in my will) Without further context, it's hard
> to
> > tell.
> >
> > VS-)
> >
> > On Sun, May 1, 2011 at 10:46 AM, Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> The Salvation Army is running a commercial urging you to leave them your
> >> money when you're dead.  An old guy tells an off-camera interviewer, "I
> am
> >> choosing to leave them in my will. I have chosen to leave them in my
> >> will."
> >>
> >> No context suggests (or, since this a TV commercial, ever would suggest)
> >> that he'd ever thought about cutting the SA out of his will. Thus
> "leave,"
> >> as above.
> >>
> >> JL
> >
> >
>
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