Torched

[victor steinbok]

ACK! I don't know what I meant there!

I had to restart twice, as Gmail managed to erase the message (despite the
automatic save) and stretched it over several hours, and, by the time I got
to the end, I lost the train of thought.

Of course, all those examples that immediately follow the OED definition ARE
1.b. I have no idea what I was thinking. It was the opposite that I wanted
to look at--the mentions of "torched" where no agent was involved.

Scrap that part! Just look at the two issues mentioned at the top--first,
the "X homes torched" (or "Texas is being torched", as Jon pointed out).
These do not fit the arson/burn lemma, nor do they fit any other definition
provided.

Second, look at the list of three other uses. Skip the crap in the middle--I
have no idea why I added that. Early senility, I guess...

VS-)

On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 9:39 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Sorry, Victor, I am confused. You provide this:
> > OED torch v.1 (v.2 is unrelated, as is v.1 3.):
> >
> > 1. a. trans. To furnish, or light, with a torch or torches.(See torched
> >> adj., and cf. torcher n.1 1.)
> >>  b. To set alight, to set fire to, esp. in order to claim insurance
> money=
> > .
> >> slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
> >> 2. intr. To flare like a torch; to rise like smoke from a torch. dial.
>
> Then later you say:
>
> But no arson/incinerate meaning of "torch" is listed in the OED.
>
> What exactly do you believe 1b means such that it does NOT include arson??
>
> DanG
>
>
>

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