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dearly departed

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navi

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Nov 9, 2012, 3:13:19 AM11/9/12
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What does "dearly departed" mean exactly?

I think it means "the departed who were dear". But what does "dearly" (an adverb) mean and what function does it have in the expression?

Does it mean:

" with serious loss, damage, or trouble"


Source:
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/dearly


I don't think that is what it means in "dearly departed", although I might well be wrong.

Maybe "dearly departed" is just an idiom.

Gratefully,
Navi.

Guy Barry

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Nov 9, 2012, 3:29:22 AM11/9/12
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"navi" wrote in message
news:61003f74-1f23-4ddd...@googlegroups.com...

> What does "dearly departed" mean exactly?

We've discussed this already:

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.usage.english/browse_thread/thread/a2a282752a42ae73/

--
Guy Barry

Steve Hayes

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Nov 9, 2012, 3:59:35 AM11/9/12
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On Fri, 9 Nov 2012 00:13:19 -0800 (PST), navi <lorc...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>What does "dearly departed" mean exactly?


It means that they fought bravely to the end, and took many of the enemy with
them to the grave.

>I think it means "the departed who were dear". But what does "dearly" (an adverb) mean and what function does it have in the expression?
>
>Does it mean:
>
>" with serious loss, damage, or trouble"

"He sold his life dearly" means that his enemies had to go to a lot of trouble
to kill him, and he killed more of them.


>Source:
>http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/dearly
>
>
>I don't think that is what it means in "dearly departed", although I might well be wrong.
>
>Maybe "dearly departed" is just an idiom.

There is "dear departed", which means beloved departed, sometimes referred to
as "the loved one" (see the eponymous novel by Evelyn Waugh).


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Eric Walker

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Nov 9, 2012, 4:48:48 AM11/9/12
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On Fri, 09 Nov 2012 10:59:35 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

[...]

> "He sold his life dearly" means that his enemies had to go to a lot of
> trouble to kill him, and he killed more of them.

I suspect that the verb there is copulative, and the wanted form thus:

"He sold his life dear."

If I go to the corner store and find apples on sale, I buy them cheap,
not cheaply.


--
Cordially,
Eric Walker

Don Phillipson

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Nov 9, 2012, 7:25:42 AM11/9/12
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"navi" <lorc...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:61003f74-1f23-4ddd...@googlegroups.com...

> What does "dearly departed" mean exactly?
>
> I think it means "the departed who were dear". But what does "dearly"
> (an adverb) mean and what function does it have in the expression?

Meaning_1 is more or less as you suggest. "The dear departed" is a common
American (?) euphemism for a dead person. (As documented by Jessica
Mitford, funeral directors in the USA evolved a special lexicon of
euphemisms,
a few of which became standard American English, e.g. casket = coffin.)

Meaning_2 is that the speaker either does not know or is indifferent
to the difference between adjectives and adverbs.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)


CDB

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Nov 9, 2012, 9:50:02 AM11/9/12
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On 09/11/2012 7:25 AM, Don Phillipson wrote:
> "navi" <lorc...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>> What does "dearly departed" mean exactly?

>> I think it means "the departed who were dear". But what does "dearly"
>> (an adverb) mean and what function does it have in the expression?

> Meaning_1 is more or less as you suggest. "The dear departed" is a common
> American (?) euphemism for a dead person. (As documented by Jessica
> Mitford, funeral directors in the USA evolved a special lexicon of
> euphemisms,
> a few of which became standard American English, e.g. casket = coffin.)

> Meaning_2 is that the speaker either does not know or is indifferent
> to the difference between adjectives and adverbs.

It may have begun in a confusion of "dear departed" with "dearly
beloved", a familiar form of address from officiant to congregation:
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today ....".


CDB

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Nov 9, 2012, 9:52:03 AM11/9/12
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On 09/11/2012 7:25 AM, Don Phillipson wrote:
> "navi" <lorc...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>> What does "dearly departed" mean exactly?

>> I think it means "the departed who were dear". But what does "dearly"
>> (an adverb) mean and what function does it have in the expression?

> Meaning_1 is more or less as you suggest. "The dear departed" is a common
> American (?) euphemism for a dead person. (As documented by Jessica
> Mitford, funeral directors in the USA evolved a special lexicon of
> euphemisms,
> a few of which became standard American English, e.g. casket = coffin.)

> Meaning_2 is that the speaker either does not know or is indifferent
> to the difference between adjectives and adverbs.

CDB

unread,
Nov 9, 2012, 10:19:55 AM11/9/12
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On 09/11/2012 7:25 AM, Don Phillipson wrote:
> "navi" <lorc...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>> What does "dearly departed" mean exactly?

>> I think it means "the departed who were dear". But what does "dearly"
>> (an adverb) mean and what function does it have in the expression?

> Meaning_1 is more or less as you suggest. "The dear departed" is a common
> American (?) euphemism for a dead person. (As documented by Jessica
> Mitford, funeral directors in the USA evolved a special lexicon of
> euphemisms,
> a few of which became standard American English, e.g. casket = coffin.)

> Meaning_2 is that the speaker either does not know or is indifferent
> to the difference between adjectives and adverbs.

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Nov 9, 2012, 10:27:18 AM11/9/12
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Almost certainly, I would think. I was quite surprised by Stevbe's
contention that it has anything to do with the manner of dying.


--
athel

Peter Young

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Nov 9, 2012, 10:45:47 AM11/9/12
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"What I tell you three times must be true". Is anyone else getting
three copies of CDB's messages?

Peter.

--
Peter Young, (BrE, RP), Consultant Anaesthetist, 1975-2004.
(US equivalent: Certified Anesthesiologist)
Cheltenham and Gloucester, UK. Now happily retired.
http://pnyoung.orpheusweb.co.uk

Guy Barry

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Nov 9, 2012, 10:52:35 AM11/9/12
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"Peter Young" wrote in message
news:e6eefbeb5...@pnyoung.ormail.co.uk...

> "What I tell you three times must be true". Is anyone else getting
> three copies of CDB's messages?

I received three copies of that one, and three copies also appear on Google
Groups, so I assume it was a one-off technical glitch. I haven't received
three copies of any other of CDB's messages.

--
Guy Barry

Don Phillipson

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Nov 9, 2012, 1:28:12 PM11/9/12
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"Peter Young" <pny...@ormail.co.uk> wrote in message
news:e6eefbeb5...@pnyoung.ormail.co.uk...

> "What I tell you three times must be true". Is anyone else getting
> three copies of CDB's messages?

Yes: and multiples of two of my own recently. If it happens
to CDB as well the trouble is more probably in the network
than on his PC or mine.

CDB

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Nov 10, 2012, 7:42:40 AM11/10/12
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On 09/11/2012 1:28 PM, Don Phillipson wrote:
> "Peter Young" <pny...@ormail.co.uk> wrote:

>> "What I tell you three times must be true". Is anyone else getting
>> three copies of CDB's messages?

> Yes: and multiples of two of my own recently. If it happens
> to CDB as well the trouble is more probably in the network
> than on his PC or mine.

Yes, sorry. I thought it would be counterproductive to post another
message in explanation; we have had these duplications before.

The problem seemed, in my case, to have something to do with timing-out
(life occasionally calls me away from the screen) and the occasional
sudden disappearances of my newsclient, aioe.

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