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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Spidermonkey on Monday 08 June 20 14:59 BST (UK)
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I've been rummaging through some newspaper articles online, and came across this death notice today. I'm not certain that it is phrased with entirely the right words......... If there has been a change of use of the word deplored, then I would be very interested!
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I've been rummaging through some newspaper articles online, and came across this death notice today. I'm not certain that it is phrased with entirely the right words......... If there has been a change of use of the word deplored, then I would be very interested!
It does look odd, doesn't it? A google search shows up similar usages, so I don't think it was a mistake.
“His loss is deeply deplored, as he was immensely popular.”
de·plore (dĭ-plôr′)
tr.v. de·plored, de·plor·ing, de·plores
1. To feel or express strong disapproval of; condemn: "Somehow we had to master events, not simply deplore them" (Henry A. Kissinger).
2. To express sorrow or grief over.
3. To regret; bemoan.
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I think it was used as a synonym for lament.
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The death is reported with the same phrasing in both of the local newspapers - making it far less likely to have been a mistaken phrase. Would there have been a word limit to the death notices, so the phrase "deeply deplored" became shorthand for "we feel a lot of grief and sorrow at the loss of our loved one"?
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If I remember correctly you paid a charge for the first few words in the classified section and then by each additional word, so in a similar way to telegrams, people were very often economical with their use of words.
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From the OED
Deplored; Lamented, mourned for.
Deplore; To weep for, bewail, lament; to grieve over, regret deeply.
Stan
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There is a similar monument in our local church where it says that X was 'deeply regretted by all who knew him'.
Richard
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Thank you for your contributions too, AntiqueSam, Stan and Richard. I find it fascinating how language evolves and develops.
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Surely the word "deplored" relates to the instance of "death", rather than the person. The same would apply to "deeply regretted by all who knew her".