Torched

[Dan Goncharoff]

Got it.

I don't see a big issue in applying 1b to a non-sentient actor like a
wildfire, but what do I know.

DanG



On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 9:56 AM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Torched
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
DanG

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