This article will self-destruct when you finish reading it.
OK, not really. We all know it’s nearly impossible to destroy something once it’s on the Internet.
In modern usage, ‘destroy’ is increasingly used as a simple synonym of ‘destroy’.
Wait a minute: did we just say “destroy”? Correct. We did. And why not? Self destruct is a word in a good position. should not destroy is one, too?
Yeah sure. And it is, kind of. destroy was first included in the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 1909. But it was never popular and some people objected to it, unlike self destructpops up everywhere and seems to raise eyebrows.
destroy looks like a completely ordinary word. It shares a syllable with teach, hamperAnd build, and it contrasts particularly nicely with the last one. This pair even has Latin analogues: destroy in the past participle truthmeans “destroy” and build in the past participle explainmeans “pile, build.”
The earliest known examples of both destroy And build dates back to the 1600s, but while build has thrived, destroy little used for several centuries and then completely ceded its territory to synonyms destroyhas been doing a good job of this anyway since the 1200s.
But then the 1950s appeared, and destroy reappears in aerospace terminology. Old person destroy the first users of the new may not know destroy. The new is almost certainly coined by the opposite formation of the word destruction.
revival destroy has not been used in exactly the same way as destroy. For one thing, within a decade it has been associated with self-while destroy not (except as a participating adjective in .) self destruction). destroy also carries the connotation of destruction for some positive purpose, such as safety:
… a $50 million weather satellite was deliberately destroyed during launch. —Sunday Republic (Springfield, Massachusetts), May 19, 1968
Sometimes it still means that:
[White Sands Missile Range] Officials say a problem during the test flight of the Terrier-Black Brant sub-orbital rocket forced it to be destroyed…. [S]shortly after takeoff, problems with its trajectory became apparent and WSMR’s Range Control Center aborted the flight and destroyed the rocket.— Las Cruces (New Mexico) Sun-NewsMay 21, 2015
For many years, the use of destroy associated with its 20th century origins, appearing mainly in aerospace and military contexts and occasionally in the cape and dagger story. This is no longer true. As a joining adjective, destroy now describe partially destroyed fashion for the sake of the positive that is fashion:
Known for their tattered denim jackets, ironic sweatshirts, and knick-knacks like Polaroid cameras, the store is essentially a mass-produced version of a second-hand store. —Veronika Bondarenko, Business InsiderApril 28, 2017
And in modern use destroy increasingly used as a simple synonym of destroywhich means it came out in full:
The NC Wildlife Resources Commission says the Animal Control Agency is only allowed to trap foxes if the animal is aggressive, damaging property or posing a threat to public health. — Betsy Church, News & Observers (Raleigh, North Carolina), June 30, 2012
For self destruct, which has since graced the television series “Mission: Impossible”, which ran from 1966 to 1973 (and then revived in the 1980s). The opening of each episode of the show included a tape of instructions that would ignite after the words “This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.” We have initial evidence from technical sources for self destruct is used as an adjective (for example, in “self-destruction”, but not as a verb. The verb seems to have been fully developed since the beginning of the writers of “Mission Impossible”. The concept of self-destruction seemed to fill a need.The verb quickly became popular, established, and continues to prove useful:
… Snapchat, the popular app that causes photos and videos to self-destruct seconds after receiving them. — Michelle Cottle, AtlanticNovember 2014
Quite productive for a destroyer.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
