Damned with feint praise?????

[Spidermonkey]

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!

[Mike in Cumbria]

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.

[Erato]

I think it was used as a synonym for lament.

[Spidermonkey]

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"?

[antiquesam]

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.

[stanmapstone]

From the OED
Deplored;  Lamented, mourned for.
Deplore; To weep for, bewail, lament; to grieve over, regret deeply.
Stan

[Richard Knott]

There is a similar monument in our local church where it says that X was 'deeply regretted by all who knew him'.

Richard

[Spidermonkey]

Thank you for your contributions too, AntiqueSam, Stan and Richard.  I find it fascinating how language evolves and develops.

[BumbleB]

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".