[Ads-l] "unbeaten" = "once beaten"

[Jonathan Lighter]

"has been unbeaten" sounds rougher 'n' tougher than a wimpy "has won," or
even "has been victorious."

"Has totally kicked ass," however, will soon be preferred, .

JL



On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 2:51 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: "unbeaten" = "once beaten"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > On Jul 15, 2015, at 2:05 PM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:
> >=20
> > "Jamaica is unbeaten in seven of its last eight Gold Cup matches ...".
> >=20
> > An equally undefeated team could be "unbeaten in one of its last eight =
> matches."
> >=20
> >=20
> > Presumably "has won" is too simple for an AP correspondent.  [Boston =
> Globe, today.]
>
> All true, but technically, if "unbeaten" in "unbeaten in 7 of its last 8 =
> Gold Cup matches" really meant "once beaten", they would be 6-2 rather =
> than the (I assume) intended 7-1.
>
> Pickily,
> LH=
>
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