Disappeared as transitive (UNCLASSIFIED)

Thu Mar 21 05:01:59 UTC 2013

I think that's essentially right, but it may be that the Spanish factor is an amplification of an existing usage.

Mullins's citations show that the magician usage wasn't a one-off, but had at least some currency.

I think there's no doubt that the dirty war of Argentina had an amplifying effect, though whether it derived from earlier use or not will probably never be known. See also "Disappeared (as a transitive verb)" (http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=131401) where people feel that this use comes from Spanish (the Pinochet regime in Chile).

As I noted earlier, the OED has a 1947 use "The issue of the disappeared Polish officers is" and a 1947 (intransitive) use "There have been arrests recently and there are rumors that some people have disappeared."

Between 1931 and 1961, I found seven relevant citations for was/were disappeared in Google Books. All of them could easily be production errors (quoted speech), non-native errors or typographical errors, but it seems reasonable that this use existed up to when Heller used the term (knowing or not) and when then term came to be associated with South America.

1. 1931 "Punch" author unclear (http://ow.ly/jgRIh) - this could be a production error as this citation is actually in quotes
They rushed the guarded entrance and some got past the police who were armed with sticks and others were disappeared by a charge of mounted police."

2. 1941 "The secret diary of William Byrd of Westover, 1709-1712" William Byrd (http://ow.ly/jgR1R)
Some night this month I dreamed that I saw a flaming sword in the sky and called some company to see it but before they could come it was disappeared, and about a week after my wife and I were walking and we discovered in the clouds a....

3. 1943 "Hearings" US Congress (http://ow.ly/jgRTw) - possibly a production error
Right there Judge Hanna, who bought the horse from Frances Wilson that does not belong to him, right there Frances Wilson was disappeared...

4. 1951 "The foreign policy of Palmerston, 1830-1841" Sir Charles Kingley Webster (http://ow.ly/jgRCl) - appears to be a typo
They could have another ship, since Captain Moone and the Francis were disappeared at sea, and probably on their way to England.

5. 1953 "Tax-exempt foundations: Hearings before the Select Committee ...." Congress (http://ow.ly/jgRxh) - possibly production and/or non-native error
All my correspondence with the foundations and some other letters with with American intelligence, with the Attorney General in this country, the FBI, they also were disappeared.

6. 1957 "The Gentleman from Indianapolis" Booth Tarkington or perhaps John Beecroft (http://ow.ly/jgRhy)
...were long ago dispersed; one or two had died; one or two had gone to live elsewhere; the others were disappeared into the smoky bigness of the heavy city.

7. 1958 "The Question" by Henri Alleg (http://ow.ly/jgQwN) - possibly due to interference from French (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Alleg)
His book was therefore a story of immense personal anguish and an attempt to make sure that the story of Algerians and others (including another Frenchman, Maurice Audin, who was disappeared in 1947 by the French military) reached the general public.

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

On Mar 20, 2013, at 6:30 AM, Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM> wrote:

> 
> Bill Mullins couldn't send this to the list: he did the legwork that I
> didn't and found some 1900s cits for "disappear" vt from stage magic
> contexts.
> 
> It could be that there are two strands of influence: the stage magic and
> then the Argentine. (I know that for me that transitive disappear has
> that particular political connotation when used of a person because of
> that context.)
> 
> ---Amy West
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject:        FW: Re: Disappeared as transitive (UNCLASSIFIED)
> Date:   Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:41:48 -0500
> From:   Mullins, Bill CIV (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil>
> To:     <medievalist at W-STS.COM>
> CC:     Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> 
> 
> 
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
> 
> Ms West -- for some reason, my posts have stopped appearing on the
> ADS-L.  Feel free to forward this to the list if you like.
> 
> FYI . . . .
> 
> Bill Mullins
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mullins, Bill CIV (US)
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 3:04 PM
>> To: 'American Dialect Society'
>> Subject: RE: Re: Disappeared as transitive (UNCLASSIFIED)
>> 
>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>> Caveats: NONE
>> 
>> _The Conjurers' Monthly Magazine_ Dec 15, 1907 p 106 col 2 "Here on a
>> dock, with no traps, in full view, right under my very nose the
>> professor had successfully disappeared the boy."
>> 
>> 
>> _The Sphinx_ June 1916 p 64 col 2
>> "Julius used silks which changed colour at will, disappeared a glass
> of
>> water and reproduced it, disappeared a glass of water and reproduced
>> it, and finished up with a tube trick and cards."
>> 
>> _The World's Fair_ 11/6/1937 p 12 col 5
>> "His final item gave the members a shock, for he disappeared a
>> handkerchief into a Stodare Egg and revealed the secret in such a
>> manner that the members didn't know whether to sympathize with him or
>> curse him when, with unruffled composure, he proceeded to to [sic]
> show
>> the visitors how it was done and finally surprised everyone by showing
>> it was a real egg after all."
>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
>>> Behalf Of Amy West
>>> Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 10:33 AM
>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>> Subject: Re: Disappeared as transitive
>>> 
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> ---------------
>>> --------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM>
>>> Subject:      Re: Disappeared as transitive
>>> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -
>>> -
>>> --------
>>> 
>>> On 3/19/13 12:00 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:
>>>> "It doesn't make sense. It isn't even good grammar. What the hell
>>> does
>>>> it mean when they disappear somebody?"
>>>> 
>>>> "I don't know."
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> JL
>>> Coming into the conversation late: any parallels in use of "vanish"?
>>> And what about not Argentina, but stage magic as a source of this
>>> transitivity?
>>> 
>>> (Just brainstorming at this point: haven't done the legwork yet.)
>>> 
>>> (Apologies if this has already been suggested. . . )
>>> 
>>> ---Amy West
>>> 
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>> Caveats: NONE
>> 
> 
> 
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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