tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post1900525058134594506..comments2024-03-28T05:13:13.921-04:00Comments on Books, Inq. — The Epilogue: Mind your words ...Frank Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18410473158808750903noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-139223624783540752007-04-26T10:21:00.000-04:002007-04-26T10:21:00.000-04:00Hi Lee: It sounds awful in the 1941 example. And, ...Hi Lee: It sounds awful in the 1941 example. And, while I am more inclined to descriptive approaches to language than to prescriptive ones, in this case I think the writer was simply coining a barbarism best left in the moldering pages of the Proc. Royal Society.Frank Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18410473158808750903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10178279.post-33823866824232125952007-04-26T05:41:00.000-04:002007-04-26T05:41:00.000-04:00Actually, at least according to the OED, predate ...Actually, at least according to the OED, <I>predate</I> can also be used in the sense of 'to prey':<BR/><BR/>1. trans. To act as a predator of; to catch and eat (prey). Chiefly in pass.<BR/> <BR/>1941 [implied in PREDATED adj.]. 1956 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 145 313 Many larvae..were heavily predated by cuckoos. 1977 New Scientist 27 Oct. 220/3 The eggs of many species of frogs are predated by many species of vertebrates and invertebrates. 1994 Nature Conservancy May-June 18/2 People, who scare turtles, also bring litter, which..also brings more raccoons to predate nests. 2002 J. COHEN & I. STEWART Evolving Alien vii. 154 These could then be grazed by specialised protozoa (ciliates like Paramecium..), which were then predated by larger organisms.<BR/><BR/>2. intr. To act as a predator. <BR/>1974 Trout & Salmon Mar. 50/2 It is hoped that the stock of trout will predate sufficiently to minimise the problem [of coarse fish]. 1977 Field 13 Jan. 47/1 Man is a predator... To predate in person, instead of by proxy, is not unnatural. 1995 Daily Tel. 12 Aug. (Weekend Suppl.) 3/4 An awful lot of things use dead wood... They eat it, hide in it or use it to predate on dead wood invertebrates.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.com