Wednesday, August 31, 2005
“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
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