[Ads-l] triage

[Laurence Horn]

Well, this Thanksgiving I'll try announcing that I'm going into the kitchen to triage the pots and pans and see if anyone blinks.

LH 

On Nov 7, 2014, at 9:31 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> I've just rewatched the scene in question.
> 
> Wahlberg indeed has three wounds in his leg. But none of them look life
> threatening, so no ordinary sense of "triage" enters into it.
> 
> In fact, he starts at what could be the least serious wound, and winds up
> removing what looks like a long, jagged bone fragment from the wound in his
> thigh.
> 
> So I stick with my original interpretation.
> 
> Of course, since it's a movie review, the word could merely be hyperbolic
> humor.
> 
> 
> JL
> 
> On Thu, Nov 6, 2014 at 2:49 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: triage
>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> On Nov 6, 2014, at 12:35 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> 
>>> 'Emergency medical attention':
>>> =20
>>> "Marcus removes one of the bullets he's taken by performing DIY =
>> triage."
>>> =20
>>> http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/25/lone-survivor/
>>> =20
>>> On himself. (Nobody else around for him to "triage," if that's what =
>> you're
>>> thinking.)
>> 
>> Looks like it applies to deciding which of several bullets should be =
>> prioritized for removal.  This does actually fit the relevant OED gloss:
>> 
>> 2. a. The assignment of degrees of urgency to wounds or illnesses in =
>> order to decide the order or suitability of treatment.=20
>> 
>> Nothing there about who has to bear the wounds in question.  Presumably =
>> one can even triage one's mosquito bites, figuring out which one to =
>> scratch=85er, treat first.
>> 
>> LH
>>> =20
>>> On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 10:31 AM, W Brewer <brewerwa at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> =20
>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>> -----------------------
>>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>> Poster:       W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
>>>> Subject:      Re: triage
>>>> =20
>>>> =
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
>> -----
>>>> =20
>>>> Word of this gets out and we'll have Congressional committees to ban
>>>> assault weapons in the military.
>>>> =20
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> =20
>>> --=20
>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the =
>> truth."
>>> =20
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org