“To shoot dead” is a phrasal verb, just like “to add up”. In this instance you can also just say “to shoot” or “to add”, but it doesn’t imply that the person was already dead (or that the numbers are up in the air).
Of course, if you had been taught grammar at school, this wouldn’t be a problem 😉
Saw a headline in a local paper the other day – ‘Police tackle robbers armed with knives and axes’ and thought, blimey, when did we issue cops with axes?
the great redacto
Thought it’d be the Telegraph. Over-selling the story again.
It seems to me that one should not publish flippant remarks about real people being shot.
Nick Luke
The BBC announced to day, in all seriousness, that ‘Gunman, Peter Reeve did not have a firearms certificate’. What was the man thinking of? How irresponsible of him not to have applied for consent to carry a loaded weapon. He probably didn’t even carry out a risk assessment before embarking on his rampage.
Richard
I’m not sure their latest headline is much better:
“Gunman who shot off-duty police officer found dead in churchyard”
If you’re looking for a dead copper to shoot, I suppose a churchyard would be a good place to start looking.
Nick Luke: “He probably didn’t even carry out a risk assessment before embarking on his rampage.”
Not really a ‘rampage’ (at least, not compared to Derrick Bird or even Raoul Moat). He seems to have had a beef with his neighbour and was intent on killing him, not innocent bystanders.
The cop got in the way, and if in mufti probably didn’t even realise he was a cop.
JuliaM: I try to behave decently irrespective of any legal compulsion. I’m not surprised to learn that you take a different view.
Gene Berman
PaulB:
Wow! You try to behave decently. Your own free choice, apparently, even absent any legal-type intimidation forcing you to do so.
I guess you must just be a better person and, apparently, you are convinced in that regard, as well.
It’s a fortunate thing you told us; otherwise, we might have remained sadly in the dark on this important matter.
And, if Julia now protests that, she, too, tries to behave in a decent manner, might you not disput her claim–on the grounds that you were first to make the claim?
“To shoot dead” is a phrasal verb, just like “to add up”. In this instance you can also just say “to shoot” or “to add”, but it doesn’t imply that the person was already dead (or that the numbers are up in the air).
Of course, if you had been taught grammar at school, this wouldn’t be a problem 😉
Saw a headline in a local paper the other day – ‘Police tackle robbers armed with knives and axes’ and thought, blimey, when did we issue cops with axes?
Thought it’d be the Telegraph. Over-selling the story again.
It seems to me that one should not publish flippant remarks about real people being shot.
The BBC announced to day, in all seriousness, that ‘Gunman, Peter Reeve did not have a firearms certificate’. What was the man thinking of? How irresponsible of him not to have applied for consent to carry a loaded weapon. He probably didn’t even carry out a risk assessment before embarking on his rampage.
I’m not sure their latest headline is much better:
“Gunman who shot off-duty police officer found dead in churchyard”
If you’re looking for a dead copper to shoot, I suppose a churchyard would be a good place to start looking.
PaulB: “It seems to me that one should not publish flippant remarks about real people being shot.”
Really? Why not? Will the Internet Decency Squad swoop to arrest us all?
Nick Luke: “He probably didn’t even carry out a risk assessment before embarking on his rampage.”
Not really a ‘rampage’ (at least, not compared to Derrick Bird or even Raoul Moat). He seems to have had a beef with his neighbour and was intent on killing him, not innocent bystanders.
The cop got in the way, and if in mufti probably didn’t even realise he was a cop.
JuliaM: I try to behave decently irrespective of any legal compulsion. I’m not surprised to learn that you take a different view.
PaulB:
Wow! You try to behave decently. Your own free choice, apparently, even absent any legal-type intimidation forcing you to do so.
I guess you must just be a better person and, apparently, you are convinced in that regard, as well.
It’s a fortunate thing you told us; otherwise, we might have remained sadly in the dark on this important matter.
And, if Julia now protests that, she, too, tries to behave in a decent manner, might you not disput her claim–on the grounds that you were first to make the claim?