“On Language” 8/31: “Gone Missing” and Other Language Mysteries
Fussiness about grammar has gone missing
‘On Language’
Chicago Tribune
August 31, 2005
By Nathan Bierma
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Readers send both questions and answers by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). First the questions:
Q. In the last three or four years, I’ve noticed news media using the phrase “went missing” to describe a disappearance, as in, “A child went missing today” rather than “A child is missing today.” I have always assumed “went missing” to be informal slang or a colloquial expression, not a part of the more formal grammar generally used by the media. Have I missed a shift in “correct” grammar?
—Elaine Truver, Chicago
“Gone missing” and “went missing” are incorrect usage in the US English language. It is ghetto speak that has somehow wound its way onto television, news, and into print. It sounds uneducated and idiotic.
The boy has been missing since Saturday. NOT: The boy went missing on Saturday.
“Missing” is a state of being. It is NOT a verb.
Think of comparisons using other “state of being” words. For example, “elated.”
The boy was elated at his new toy. NOT: The boy went elated at his new toy.
OR: “happy.” The boy is happy. NOT: The boy went happy.
OR: “intelligent.” She is intelligent. NOT: She went intelligent.
“Went” is to locomote to a different location. If one is going someplace to do something, “went” can be used as a “helping verb” for the action verb. EXAMPLES:
We went shopping. We went bowling. The boy went camping.
BUT NOT: We went happy. We gone educated. The boy went intelligent. His parents went proud.
NOW DO YOU GET IT??? thanks, Sue Basko, a grammarian at heart. I gone stupid!!!!
Posted by Sue Basko on 10/12 at 11:32 PM
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