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It might be. I never really thought about it, and it certainly seems common enough over here now. Still, that little tidbit reminded me of an anecdote about my sister when she was little. My mother had been watching the news, and the big news was a missing person case. My sister caught some of it and said, in shock and amusement, that it was all very silly! People don't just DISAPPEAR! You can just imagine what she thought it meant, that somebody stepped out of their home and vanished into thin air!
So, of course, with the women recently found in Cleveland the phrase "went missing" got used to describe the situation. You can imagine MY astonishment at a comment to one article on these women that goes on for five or six sentences how "wrong" and "illogical" the phrase is, how really "reputable and educated" people would NEVER say that. Five lines about the atrocity that is English, nary a word about the kidnapping and rescue.
The commenter never said what usage he preferred, which is probably just as well, because as every five year old knows, "disappeared" isn't a very logical term. (But really, what sort of uneducated person tries to justify language choices with logic?)
On that note, here's an article on the spread of logical punctuation:
http://slate.me/QljFSH
Some of the comments are a riot! Hold on, I may excerpt a few.
So, of course, with the women recently found in Cleveland the phrase "went missing" got used to describe the situation. You can imagine MY astonishment at a comment to one article on these women that goes on for five or six sentences how "wrong" and "illogical" the phrase is, how really "reputable and educated" people would NEVER say that. Five lines about the atrocity that is English, nary a word about the kidnapping and rescue.
The commenter never said what usage he preferred, which is probably just as well, because as every five year old knows, "disappeared" isn't a very logical term. (But really, what sort of uneducated person tries to justify language choices with logic?)
On that note, here's an article on the spread of logical punctuation:
http://slate.me/QljFSH
Some of the comments are a riot! Hold on, I may excerpt a few.
