withering attack
Yilaner
under withering attack from the Central Intelligence Agency’s
armed drones.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What's the meaning of "withering" here? If you want to replace
it with a synonym, what words would you use?
Thanks for yout help!
Harrison Hill
> And Al Qaeda’s main headquarters in Pakistan has come
> under withering attack from the Central Intelligence Agency’s
> armed drones.
>
> What's the meaning of "withering" here? If you want to replace
> it with a synonym, what words would you use?
>
> Thanks for yout help!
I'd think "sustained" isn't strong enough, nor "overwhelming", so
maybe "furious".
Athel Cornish-Bowden
It's not the right word here, as it's mostly used for verbal attacks
rather than physical ones. You can make a withering attack on a
political policy, but not on a terrorist organization, because Al Qaeda
would not be likely to wither regardless of how many nasty things the
CIA says about it.
I think "fierce" would fit much better.
--
athel
Marius Hancu
It's this meaning, IMO:
----
wither
4. to make speechless or incapable of action : PARALYZE, STUN
<withered him with a look -- Dorothy Sayers> <before she could wither
him for his impertinence, he swept her on to the floor in a waltz --
Anthony Glyn>
M-W U
---
Marius Hancu
Harrison Hill
I see your "fierce" and raise it: "ferocious".
A blistering firestorm of utter horridness.
Horace LaBadie
Athel Cornish-Bowden <athe...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Scorching.
Gunfire is often described as withering. It causes men to clutch the
earth as if they were blades of grass scorched by the heat of the
ballets.
John Dean
> On 2011-05-02 16:40:49 +0200, Yilaner <yil...@gmail.com> said:
>
>> And Al Qaeda's main headquarters in Pakistan has come
>> under withering attack from the Central Intelligence Agency's
>> armed drones.
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ---
>>
>> What's the meaning of "withering" here? If you want to replace
>> it with a synonym, what words would you use?
>>
>> Thanks for yout help!
>
> It's not the right word here, as it's mostly used for verbal attacks
> rather than physical ones.
It *is* used in a physical sense but of the ferocity of the method of attack
rather than the attack itself. 'withering fire' is common, as in this OED
cite:
1884 J. Colborne With Hicks Pasha in Soudan 174 Our withering fire knocked
the poor fellows over and over.
Yahoo has 4,800 hits for "withering fire"
--
John Dean
Oxford
Harrison Hill
wrote:
> In article <927uk3F5l...@mid.individual.net>,
> Athel Cornish-Bowden <athel...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 2011-05-02 16:40:49 +0200, Yilaner <yila...@gmail.com> said:
>
> > > And Al Qaeda’s main headquarters in Pakistan has come
> > > under withering attack from the Central Intelligence Agency’s
> > > armed drones.
> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > ---
>
> > > What's the meaning of "withering" here? If you want to replace
> > > it with a synonym, what words would you use?
>
> > > Thanks for yout help!
>
> > It's not the right word here, as it's mostly used for verbal attacks
> > rather than physical ones. You can make a withering attack on a
> > political policy, but not on a terrorist organization, because Al Qaeda
> > would not be likely to wither regardless of how many nasty things the
> > CIA says about it.
>
> > I think "fierce" would fit much better.
>
> Scorching.
>
> Gunfire is often described as withering. It causes men to clutch the
> earth as if they were blades of grass scorched by the heat of the
> ballets.
I've been to those ballets and they are really hot ;0)
Horace LaBadie
<4099d295-76a3-44c5...@r35g2000prj.googlegroups.com>,
Harrison Hill <harri...@gmx.com> wrote:
> On May 2, 4:24 pm, Horace LaBadie <hwlabadi...@nospam.highstream.net>
> wrote:
> > In article <927uk3F5l...@mid.individual.net>,
> > Athel Cornish-Bowden <athel...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > On 2011-05-02 16:40:49 +0200, Yilaner <yila...@gmail.com> said:
> >
> > > > And Al Qaedaąs main headquarters in Pakistan has come
> > > > under withering attack from the Central Intelligence Agencyąs
> > > > armed drones.
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > ---
> > > > ---
> >
> > > > What's the meaning of "withering" here? If you want to replace
> > > > it with a synonym, what words would you use?
> >
> > > > Thanks for yout help!
> >
> > > It's not the right word here, as it's mostly used for verbal attacks
> > > rather than physical ones. You can make a withering attack on a
> > > political policy, but not on a terrorist organization, because Al Qaeda
> > > would not be likely to wither regardless of how many nasty things the
> > > CIA says about it.
> >
> > > I think "fierce" would fit much better.
> >
> > Scorching.
> >
> > Gunfire is often described as withering. It causes men to clutch the
> > earth as if they were blades of grass scorched by the heat of the
> > ballets.
>
> I've been to those ballets and they are really hot ;0)
In your tutu?
yangg
> And Al Qaeda’s main headquarters in Pakistan has come
> under withering attack from the Central Intelligence Agency’s
> armed drones.
>
> What's the meaning of "withering" here? If you want to replace
> it with a synonym, what words would you use?
>
***
They don't want to destroy a good pork-and-barrel fallacy.
Withering means keep it under control but avoid destroying it too
early.
Apparently Ben Ladin was of no use any more,
The CIA killed their creature, yesterday night.
Who's next?
Let's wait.
A.
Don Phillipson
news:ab0de3c9-eb68-487c...@l2g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> . . . Al Qaeda’s main headquarters in Pakistan has come
The word withering is a metaphor in the sentence quoted:
but metaphors never (or hardly ever) can be replaced by a
synonym.
From plant biology, the source meaning of "wither" is
"decline towards death." This is why it became a
military metaphor (for bombardment or some such
attack likely to cause the enemy to decline towards
collapse by "withering gunfire" etc.) The metaphor
is obviously imprecisely applied in the sentence
quoted, a secondary reason we should not expect
to find a synonym.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
Athel Cornish-Bowden
Often by whom? I have never heard this expression (until today). Maybe
it's an AmE term invented by people who've forgotten what withering is.
The first ten hits on Google include two in which it refers literally
to withering of plants, and the rest are verbal attacks.
"State Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ros, head of the Florida Department
of Health , is resigning following a withering attack on her management
by Gov ... "
I don't think there is any suggestion here that she subject to a
physical attack.
--
athel
Leslie Danks
> On 2011-05-02 17:24:18 +0200, Horace LaBadie said:
>
>> In article <927uk3...@mid.individual.net>,
>> Athel Cornish-Bowden <athe...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2011-05-02 16:40:49 +0200, Yilaner <yil...@gmail.com> said:
>>>
>>>> And Al Qaeda’s main headquarters in Pakistan has come
>>>> under withering attack from the Central Intelligence Agency’s
>>>> armed drones.
>>>>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> ---
>>>>
>>>> What's the meaning of "withering" here? If you want to replace
>>>> it with a synonym, what words would you use?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for yout help!
>>>
>>> It's not the right word here, as it's mostly used for verbal attacks
>>> rather than physical ones. You can make a withering attack on a
>>> political policy, but not on a terrorist organization, because Al Qaeda
>>> would not be likely to wither regardless of how many nasty things the
>>> CIA says about it.
>>>
>>> I think "fierce" would fit much better.
>>
>> Scorching.
>>
>> Gunfire is often described as withering.
>
> Often by whom? I have never heard this expression (until today). Maybe
> it's an AmE term invented by people who've forgotten what withering is.
The term "withering fire" in the sense of gunfire is certainly known to me.
Although most of the examples thrown up by Google are of American origin,
this one is definitely British:
"The Dieppe raid has gone down in history as a tragic military blunder. The
lack of proper intelligence on the German defences and ineffective
preparatory bombing and bombardment meant the troops came ashore against
withering fire."
<http://www.wargamesillustrated.net/Default.aspx?tabid=291&art_id=423>
>
> The first ten hits on Google include two in which it refers literally
> to withering of plants, and the rest are verbal attacks.
>
> "State Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ros, head of the Florida Department
> of Health , is resigning following a withering attack on her management
> by Gov ... "
>
> I don't think there is any suggestion here that she subject to a
> physical attack.
>
>
--
Les
(BrE)
Horace LaBadie
Athel Cornish-Bowden <acor...@ifr88.cnrs-mrs.fr> wrote:
> On 2011-05-02 17:24:18 +0200, Horace LaBadie said:
>
> > In article <927uk3...@mid.individual.net>,
> > Athel Cornish-Bowden <athe...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> >> On 2011-05-02 16:40:49 +0200, Yilaner <yil...@gmail.com> said:
> >>
> >>> And Al Qaeda’s main headquarters in Pakistan has come
> >>> under withering attack from the Central Intelligence Agency’s
> >>> armed drones.
> >>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> -
> >>> ---
> >>>
> >>> What's the meaning of "withering" here? If you want to replace
> >>> it with a synonym, what words would you use?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks for yout help!
> >>
> >> It's not the right word here, as it's mostly used for verbal attacks
> >> rather than physical ones. You can make a withering attack on a
> >> political policy, but not on a terrorist organization, because Al Qaeda
> >> would not be likely to wither regardless of how many nasty things the
> >> CIA says about it.
> >>
> >> I think "fierce" would fit much better.
> >
> > Scorching.
> >
> > Gunfire is often described as withering.
>
> Often by whom? I have never heard this expression (until today). Maybe
> it's an AmE term invented by people who've forgotten what withering is.
>
A quick look at the OED finds a citation from 1884, Colborne, With Hicks
Paasha in the Soudan, "Our withering fire knocked the poor fellows over
and over."
"Withering fire" is certainly old and bi-pondian.
Mike Lyle
<hwlab...@nospam.highstream.net> wrote:
>In article
><4099d295-76a3-44c5...@r35g2000prj.googlegroups.com>,
> Harrison Hill <harri...@gmx.com> wrote:
>
>> On May 2, 4:24 pm, Horace LaBadie <hwlabadi...@nospam.highstream.net>
>> wrote:
[...]
>> >
>> > Scorching.
>> >
>> > Gunfire is often described as withering. It causes men to clutch the
>> > earth as if they were blades of grass scorched by the heat of the
>> > ballets.
>>
>> I've been to those ballets and they are really hot ;0)
>
>In your tutu?
Scorchio!
A welcome opportunity to recommend Caryl Brahms and S.J.Simon, _A
Bullet in the Ballet_. A very funny whodunnit, worth a little trouble
to find.
--
Mike.
mm
I've been shot down by girls in tutus. But I'm too fat to wither.
--
Posters should say where they live, and for which area
they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 28 years
Dr Nick
> A welcome opportunity to recommend Caryl Brahms and S.J.Simon, _A
> Bullet in the Ballet_. A very funny whodunnit, worth a little trouble
> to find.
I read their "No Bed For Bacon" at the time Shakespeare In Love was
making the news, and enjoyed it.
--
Online waterways route planner | http://canalplan.eu
Plan trips, see photos, check facilities | http://canalplan.org.uk
Mike Lyle
<3-no...@temporary-address.org.uk> wrote:
>Mike Lyle <mike_l...@yahoo.co.uk> writes:
>
>> A welcome opportunity to recommend Caryl Brahms and S.J.Simon, _A
>> Bullet in the Ballet_. A very funny whodunnit, worth a little trouble
>> to find.
>
>I read their "No Bed For Bacon" at the time Shakespeare In Love was
>making the news, and enjoyed it.
"Queen Elizabeth spat."
--
Mike.