[Ads-l] childs

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

I'm not so sure it was a mere slip.  It may fit into the style of police
reporting which aims to keep the speaker at an emotional distance from
the people being reported about. So, for example, instead of speaking
about "men" and "women," a report may speak of "males" and
"females."  There's less of a human, emotional bond of the speaker
with the people being reported on.  Here's one example I just found
on the internet concerning another matter
:
"As a result, three males and three females were arrested and is assisting with the investigation."
​In the case of the Uvalde police-reporting, the emotional connection
of everyone with the children is intense. I suspect that the police
reporter tried subconsciously to reduce the emotional bond and
thereby somehow sound more professional by replacing "children"
with "childs."

Gerald Cohen

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>, May 27, 2022, 2:27 p.m.

> a mere slip
I've seen "childs" in print. But I didn't post it, because it was followed
by "children," in the same paragraph. So, I figured that it was "a mere
slip," to coin a phrase.=F0=9F=98=89 And I hope that it was. But...
Youneverknow.

On Fri, May 27, 2022 at 12:46 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Presumably it was a mere slip prompted by the familiar collocation
> "innocent child."
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, May 27, 2022 at 12:11 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com=
>
> wrote:
>
> > Just now on CNN, sixtyish Col. Steve McCraw, Director of the Texas
> > Department of Public Safety, has denounced the "murder of 19 innocent
> > childs and two adults."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth=
."
>
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--=20
- Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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