[Ads-l] "defend [NP]" to mean "defend against [NP]", inverting the meaning

[David Bowie]

Also, in parallel to the legal use, in reports of team sports you not 
infrequently read/hear that someone "defended [player]" meaning to 
defend against that player.

David Bowie
> Date:    Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:07:06 +0000
> From:    "John M. Baker" <jb5911 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject: Re: "defend [NP]" to mean "defend against [NP]", inverting the meaning
>
> This is a standard use in the legal context. One defends a lawsuit, one does not defend against a lawsuit. For example, Merriam-Webster provides as definitions of “defend,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defend, the meanings “to act as attorney for” and “to deny or oppose the right of a plaintiff in regard to (a suit or a wrong charged.” Are there examples outside of the legal context?
>
> John Baker
>
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
>
>
> On Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 6:15 AM, Stanton McCandlish <smccandlish at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> Not the first time I've encountered this, but the first time very recently
> outside of informal material (like social-media posts):
>
> 'Zelle spokesperson Jane Khodos told PYMNTS in a Dec. 20 statement that the
> CFPB’s complaint was legally and factually flawed, that the timing of its
> lawsuit appeared to be driven by political factors and that Zelle was
> “fully prepared to defend this meritless lawsuit.'
>
> — "Report: CFPB Drops Lawsuit Against Zelle Operator and Owner Banks";
> *Pymnts*; 2025-03-04;
> https://www.pymnts.com/news/cfpb/2025/report-cfpb-drops-lawsuit-against-zelle-operator-and-owner-banks/
>
> I have not run across the original press release or other statement from
> Zelle, so can't be sure that this wasn't simply a word-omission typo by
> *Pymnts*, during transcription.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org