rifle and riffle [was: Non-native words...]
Mike Lyle
> Looks to be a Usenet original, first used by James D. Nicoll on
> rec.arts.sf-lovers in 1990:
>
> Message-ID: <1990May15....@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
>
> The problem with defending the purity of the English language
> is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't
> just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other
> languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle
> their pockets for new vocabulary.
>
> In subsequent uses by Nicoll and others (mostly in the rec.arts.sf
> hierarchy), "riffle" was changed to "rifle":
>
> Message-ID: <36...@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
> Message-ID: <1991Jun14....@athena.mit.edu>
> Message-ID: <1992Mar20....@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
> Message-ID: <dionyEG...@netcom.com>
> etc.
>
> ObAUE: "Rifle" does seem more appropriate than "riffle" here, but I'd
> prefer "rifle *through* their pockets" to "rifle their pockets".
This interests me, as I always perceive "rifle through" as an error. I
take "rifle" to mean "steal all or most of the contents of"; and
assumed that the intransitive use was caused by infection from
"riffle" which can be used transitively or intransitively.
I've just had a glance at my four-to-a-page OED1, but I've got
eyestrain and couldn't be thorough; it seems only to have transitive
uses. Is my usage becoming obsolete? (I don't see that the two could
coexist for long.)
Mike.
Wolf Kirchmeir
>This interests me, as I always perceive "rifle through" as an error. I
>take "rifle" to mean "steal all or most of the contents of"; and
>assumed that the intransitive use was caused by infection from
>"riffle" which can be used transitively or intransitively.
Yes, as you note, "rifle" means "to seize and bear away by force; to snatch
away; to rob; to pillage; to plunder, " from oldest to newest meanings listed
in one of my dictionaries. Since you can't take away a pocket, the usage
"rifle through" seems logical, but it may well come from a notion that
"rifle" means something like "to search thoroughly (for the purpose of
stealing.)" In any case, I first encountered "rifle through," so that usage
seems OK to me. But I prefer "rifle the pockets..." == "to plunder the
pockets."
We have here an example of a wrong usage becoming right, IMO.
HTH
Best Wishes,
Wolf Kirchmeir
Blind River, Ontario
..................................................................
You can observe a lot by watching
(Yogi Berra, Phil. Em.)
..................................................................
Ben Zimmer
Intransitive "rifle (through)" is a surprisingly recent development,
according to the online OED:
---------
rifle, v.1
1 e. intr. To make a vigorous search /through/.
1966 D. F. GALOUYE Lost Perception xiv. 147 He turned to see Weldon
Radcliff sitting at a polished desk and rifling through a file holder.
1977 Woman & Home Nov. 154/2 Grace started to rifle through the contents
of her bag. 1978 Vogue Feb. 88/2 Visitors from all over the world rifle
through the tweeds and tartans.
---------
I'd say "rifle through" has taken over in contemporary Leftpondian
usage, though transitive "rifle" is probably still common at least in
the sense of going through someone's pockets.
John Dean
'rifle through' is there, and with more recent cites than plain 'rifle'.
--
John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply
Brian M. Scott
Lyle) wrote:
>Ben Zimmer wrote:
>> Looks to be a Usenet original, first used by James D. Nicoll on
>> rec.arts.sf-lovers in 1990:
>> Message-ID: <1990May15....@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
>> The problem with defending the purity of the English language
>> is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't
>> just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other
>> languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle
>> their pockets for new vocabulary.
>> In subsequent uses by Nicoll and others (mostly in the rec.arts.sf
>> hierarchy), "riffle" was changed to "rifle":
[...]
>> ObAUE: "Rifle" does seem more appropriate than "riffle" here, but I'd
>> prefer "rifle *through* their pockets" to "rifle their pockets".
>This interests me, as I always perceive "rifle through" as an error. I
>take "rifle" to mean "steal all or most of the contents of"; and
>assumed that the intransitive use was caused by infection from
>"riffle" which can be used transitively or intransitively.
Same here. 'Rifle' is roughly equivalent to 'plunder'. (And to
answer the question that I erased, OED1 does not have this
intransitive use of <rifle>.)
[...]
Brian