[Ads-l] =?utf-8?Q?=E2=80=9CTime_out=E2=80=9D_?=(active verb)

[Laurence Horn]

I’m not sure those particles are entirely redundant, although they may not affect the truth conditions (“what is said”) but rather the focus (how what is said is said). “Tweet out” and “report out” focus more on the goal of dissemination, where the verb specifies the means of sending it out.  I thought “comment out” was similar when I first came across it, but apparently it’s quite different, referring to turning a bit of text or code into a (side) comment, sort like if we used “footnote out” (which I don’t think we do) to mean reducing a paragraph of text to a footnote.  And the opposite of “comment out” is “uncomment”, which I like.

LH

> On Aug 28, 2021, at 9:52 AM, Ben Yagoda <byagoda at UDEL.EDU> wrote:
> 
> Reminds me of a couple of current redundant “out” constructions: “tweet
> out” (for tweet) and journalists’ “report out” a story (for “report”).
> 
> Date:    Fri, 27 Aug 2021 16:57:28 -0400
> From:    Mark Mandel <markamandel at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: "time out" (active verb)
> 
> Might it not be worthwhile to write to those commentators, or their
> stations ("Complaints" page, anybody?), and point out that to most viewers
> this expression is opaque and possibly even misleading?
> 
> Mark A. Mandel
> 
> 
> On Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 8:21 PM Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:
> 
>> In recent months I've noticed TV network news anchors (especially David
>> Muir of ABC, but others as well) saying that such-and-such a correspondent
>> would "time out" an occurrence, meaning "report on" or "tell about" it.  I
>> wonder where that construction came from, how old it is.--
> Sent from my phone
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org