[Ads-l] to metal detect

[Jonathan Lighter]

Undoubtedly. But in this instance it seemed clear that the speaker meant
that metal (perhaps the Ark of the Covenant or one of those things) had
actually been detected.

If so, his usage would fall somewhere between lexicon and syntax.

JL

On Wed, Jan 18, 2017 at 9:44 AM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:

> In contrast to some of these phrases, note that "metal detected" is not
> synonymous with "detected metal," since "metal detected" does not require
> that any metal was in fact detected.
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 6:20 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: to metal detect
>
>  2017 _Curse of Oak Island_ (History Channel TV) (Jan. 17):
> "They went down there, they metal detected, they tried to repeat the metal
> detection."
>
> 'To detect metal successfully through use of a metal detector.'
>
> 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
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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