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Guest Posted 22 years ago
Grammar
To Go Missing
Is it correct in formal or informal usage to say that someone has gone missing? This is frequently heard on news reports and in the press.
To go missing, I believe, is a relatively recent form. But is it correct? My grammars from college, which are over 40 years old, do not cite it, and I am sure I never heard it prior to the last 5 or 10 years.
An expert opinion would be much appreciated by this former English major and teacher.
Thank you!
To go missing, I believe, is a relatively recent form. But is it correct? My grammars from college, which are over 40 years old, do not cite it, and I am sure I never heard it prior to the last 5 or 10 years.
An expert opinion would be much appreciated by this former English major and teacher.
Thank you!
Top answer
I found this googling "go missing". I hope it's of any use. Lately, however, the American press has become that professor.
- I found this googling "go missing".
- I hope it's of any use.
- Lately, however, the American press has become that professor.
- What set the ball rolling, I believe, was use of the verb phrase "to go missing" to mean "disappear," as in a person or object that at one moment is available and visible and subsequently is nowhere to be found.
- "Disappear" doesn't perfectly convey this idea -- it has too much of a Siegfried and Roy, presto-chango connotation -- but, along with its slightly more melodramatic counterpart, "vanish," it had to do the job for a long time.
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15 Answers
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I found this googling "go missing". I hope it's of any use.
Lately, however, the American press has become that professor. What set the ball rolling, I believe, was use of the verb phrase "to go missing" to mean "disappear," as in a person or object that at one moment is available and visible and subsequently is nowhere to be found. "Disappear" doesn't perfectly convey this idea -- i
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I'd have to say it's correct for informal usage, and formal usage would depend on the situation and the audience.
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I am offended every time I hear reporters use the phrases go missing, gone missing, went missing. Missing is a state of being. You cannot go there, you simply are! I have been reading from your sight that it is a Bristish phrase, but I still think it sounds strange and unintelligent...
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Hi,
but I still think it sounds strange and unintelligent... Yes, the British can be a bit like that, sometimes.
I think a lot of people are bothered by this expression. However, the media seem to love it.
Best wishes, Clive
but I still think it sounds strange and unintelligent... Yes, the British can be a bit like that, sometimes.
I think a lot of people are bothered by this expression. However, the media seem to love it.
Best wishes, Clive
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Hi,
I wouldn't entirely say it's wrong. After all, you can go crazy or go fishing, although neither of these is really analogous. Certainly, it's well established now in informal use. However, it's ugly, irritating, ugly. Its use does not exactly advertise you as an educated, careful speaker.
So, what to say instead? Perhaps he disappeared, he vanished, he has no
I wouldn't entirely say it's wrong. After all, you can go crazy or go fishing, although neither of these is really analogous. Certainly, it's well established now in informal use. However, it's ugly, irritating, ugly. Its use does not exactly advertise you as an educated, careful speaker.
So, what to say instead? Perhaps he disappeared, he vanished, he has no
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After Princess Diana's funeral was covered at length in the U.S.by both the U.S. and the British news media, British speaking expressions started turning up in the U.S. in the printed media and on the T.V. and radio. These include "went missing" and "indeed", both of which sound pretentious and phoney when used by the American news people.
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I am so glad to see this question and the responses. I have been living in France for the last 13 years and teaching English as a Second Language. This "go missing" usage was one of my favorite examples of the differences between British and American formulations. Imagine my surprise when I moved back this summer to find the phrase all over the television. I kept asking friends and relatives abou
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Proper usage in a news story should be: "reported missing", "reportedly missing", or "reported to be missing".
The subject may or may not be aware of his or her surroundings, or may or may not have been seeking relative anonymity, which "going missing" seems to connotate.
The subject may or may not be aware of his or her surroundings, or may or may not have been seeking relative anonymity, which "going missing" seems to connotate.
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I think that the verb "to go" implies intent, so "to go missing" would imply that one disappears on purpose. The English language has been so far degraded that nobody seems willing to correct it, and it certainly doesn't appear to be taught in schools. As far as I'm concerned, I never use the phrases associated with "going missing."
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