"will have" = "must have; did"

[Jonathan Lighter]

"John," the full statement asserts that both the Germans in Namibia and the
British elsewhere killed many Africans. So "would have died" isn't a
possibility. "Must have died" or simply "died" is what he means.

It's just the Brits at it again corrupting our mother tongue.

JL


On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 1:12 AM, John Doe <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       John Doe <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "will have" = "must have; did"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 4:42 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Not even going into how many countless native Africans _will have died_
> at
> > the hands of British troops...."
> >
>
>  New to me. But I'd *say* "_would_ have died" in a case like this. Wouldn't
> write it, though. It's too colored. Gnome sane?
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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