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

[Laurence Horn]

And along the same lines we now have this candidate for QOTY:

"We want to restore the Department of Justice to an institution that focuses on fighting law and order."

—White House Press Secretary Karoline (is my Freudian slip showing?) Leavitt

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hilarious-karoline-leavitt-blunder-causes-171731015.html

LH



> On Mar 13, 2025, at 12:40 AM, David Bowie <db.list at PMPKN.NET> wrote:
> 
> 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.
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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