[Ads-l] infantry (count noun)

[Jonathan Lighter]

The corresponding nominal use of the same "ambush" (a surprise attack):

2016 Peter Travers, in  _Rolling Stone_ (Jan. 15): The movie [about the
Benghazi attack] effectively captures the frenzy of the ambush.

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/13-hours-the-secret-soldiers-of-benghazi-20160115#ixzz4CbXhnBjH

JL

On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 11:38 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

> I take it to mean that both candidates and their supporters and both
> political parties will be seriously damaged, as if devastated by war.
>
> DanG
>
> On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 9:33 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Me too. It seems to mean "no holds barred."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 8:40 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > > Speaking of misused military terms, I have noticed the upcoming
> election
> > > campaign described as "scorched earth".
> > > On May 17, 2016 8:14 AM, "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Maybe, but Kaufman is a professor of _literature_.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 8:03 AM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
> > >> Looks like a cut and paste error to me. The line may have originally
> > read
> > > "by a Russian infantry unit," but when "unit" was cut, he forgot about
> > the
> > > article.
> > >>
> > >> It's definitely an odd use of ambush, which is attack by laying in
> wait.
> > > You can't ambush a fixed position.
> > >>
> > >> -----Original Message-----
> > >> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf
> > > Of Jonathan Lighter
> > >> Sent: Monday, May 16, 2016 7:59 PM
> > >> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > >> Subject: [ADS-L] infantry (count noun)
> > >>
> > >> OED has one ex., from 1605 - which it neglects to define or describe.
> > >>
> > >> 2014 Andrew D. Kaufman _Give War and Peace a Chance_  (N.Y.: Simon &
> > >> Schuster) 210  : A fortified French encampment being ambushed at dawn
> by
> > > a Russian infantry in the middle of war is not, and never will be, a
> > magic
> > > kingdom.
> > >>
> > >> Prof. Kaufman is "an internationally recognized Russian literature
> > > scholar at the University of Virginia...[and] a featured Tolstoy expert
> > at
> > > Oprah.com."
> > >>
> > >> P.S.: This use of _ambush_, v., isn't in OED at all. I confess I can't
> > > tell whether it sounds right or wrong: 'to attack by stealth, as under
> > > cover of darkness.'
> > >>
> > >> P.P.S.: OED also lacks the popular journalistic  "ambush interview"
> (GB:
> > > 1981).
> > >>
> > >> JL
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > > truth."
> > >>
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> > >>
> > >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >> 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
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > 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
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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."

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