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Went Missing
Episode 90: January 04, 2008

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Grammar Girl here.

Everyone else seems to be announcing a word of the year, so I've decided to name a pet peeve of the year.

After a non-scientific study of the messages I get from listeners, I've determined the pet peeve of 2008 is the phrase went missing. Boy, do a lot of you hate that phrase! Before I talk about went missing, here's a fun review of some of the other words of the year.

W00t

In a spurt of silliness, Merriam-Webster named w00t the Word of the Year. Yes, that's w00t spelled w-0-0-t, with zeros where the o's should be, and it's an interjection expressing joy making it similar to the word yay. According to Merriam-Webster, w00t “first became popular in competitive online gaming forums as part of what is known as l33t ("leet," or "elite") speak—an esoteric computer hacker language in which numbers and symbols are put together to look like letters.” It's an odd choice for word of the year, but I confess I did shout, “W00t,” when I finished the final version of my Grammar Girl book manuscript a couple of weeks ago, and my editor was polite enough to “W00t,” back at me.

Grass Station

In other word-of-the-year news, Webster's Word of the Year winner was grass station, which they define as a pun on the word gas station. According to Webster's, “grass station refers to a theoretical fill-up spot in the not-too-distant future. It reflects America's growing love affair with hybrid cars and vegetable-based fuels, including ethanol and biomass fuels—some of which are actually distilled from plain old grass.”

Locavore

Finally, the new Oxford American Dictionary named locavore as Word of the Year. Back in July, Chef Mark from the Remarkable Palate podcast called out locavore as his favorite neologism for a Grammar Girl podcast about new words. Locavores are people who eat only food that is grown or produced within 100 miles of their home.

Tase

Oxford named the verb tase as a runner up for the award, and I did a show about verbifying taser into tasein September, so I'm feeling very in tune with the Oxford American Dictionary this week. At the suggestion of a listener named Elliot I made a fun t-shirt to go with the tase episode*. It reads “Don't verbify me, bro,” and it's available at the Grammar Girl website (short sleeve blue, short sleeve red, long sleeve black).

Went Missing

And now, on to the Grammar Girl Pet Peeve of 2008: went missing.

Here's an example of one of the many messages I received last year:

I want to complain about the use of poor grammar in our news media, particularly the news people's use of the term went missing for disappeared. Where in the world went missing came from, who knows, but they use it all the time, and it just grates on my nerves. So if you have any pull with these people, Mignon, please do something. Thank you!

Well, I don't know if I have much pull with the news media, but if any reporters are listening, here's the deal: Went missing actually isn't wrong, but it annoys a lot of Americans, so you might want to say missing or disappeared every once in a while.

The reason went missing sounds strange to Americans is that it's a British idiom (1, 2). I've seen sources placing the first use of went missing as far back as 1944 (3), but my version of the Oxford English Dictionary places the first use in a 1958 book by British writer Norman Franks (4). The OED places gone missing in the same category as the phrase go native, which is used to describe a turn to or relapse into savagery or heathenism. I've also heard the term go native used to describe the transition a newcomer to Washington D.C. undergoes as he or she accepts the government bureaucracy, which I suppose could be considered turning to savagery or heathenism.

One thing I realized while researching went missing and its partner go missing, is that go is quite a versatile verb. The OED includes nearly 100 definitions, most of which have multiple sub-definitions. A couple of other idioms that use the word go include go begging to mean “unfilled” or “available,” as in Jobs went begging; and go over to mean “to gain acceptance,” as in They hope the play goes over well.

It's possible that this British term has gained footing in the American media because of the high-profile disappearance of British girl Madeline McCann in May 2007. The McCann story received wall-to-wall news coverage for weeks, and this is just speculation, but it may be that the constant reporting by British journalists about how the girl “went missing” subtly influenced American reporters to adopt the term.

Administrative Stuff

So, I hope you enjoyed the first Grammar Girl pet peeve of the year. Next year I'll select a few of the top contenders and run a poll. Maybe we'll caucus. Just kidding.

Money Girl has a great episode this week to help you keep your financial resolutions. You can find that show and all the other great Quick and Dirty Tips podcasts at iTunes or QuickAndDirtyTips.com.

If you'd like to submit a question to the show, you can e-mail it to feedback@quickanddirtytips.com or leave a message on the voicemail line at 206-338-4475.

That's all. Thanks for listening.

* The use of fun as an adjective, as I have use it, is controversial.

References

1. missing. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/missing (accessed: January 03, 2008).

2. go. Merriam-Webster Online. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary (accessed: January 03, 2008).

3. O'Connor, P.T. “'Gone missing' or 'went missing.'”The Grammarphobia Blog. August 14, 2006, http://tinyurl.com/36nulg. (accessed January 3, 2008).

4. go. Oxford English Dictionary. Second edition. Oxford University Press, http://tinyurl.com/37usvq (accessed January 3, 2007).

Web Bonus: More Words of the Year

Dictionary.com Words of the Year

Lake Superior State University's List of Banished Words

American Dialect Society 2006 Word of the Year: Plutoed

Comments (14) for Went Missing | Subscribe to Comment

David Says:
10/25/2008 4:13:42 PM

Ugh. I meant to type "it can't explain ITS use," of course.

David Says:
10/25/2008 4:11:33 PM

I grew up in Texas in the 50's and 60's in a family of native Texans. "Go missing," "gone missing," and "went missing" were in common use in my circle, which included no Britons whatsoever. So, the British connection may exist, but it can't explain it's use in America altogether. Maybe it's just that we read a lot of books in my family. :)

Matt Says:
10/14/2008 11:30:45 PM

I've been using "went missing" for years. It's not incorrect (can you use a double negative to imply emphasis or to specify meaning?), and I argue with my friends daily about it. I'm overjoyed that you could clear this up. Next time someone says something about it, I will simply refer them to this podcast. I love the podcast, keep up the great work.

Dallas Says:
9/15/2008 8:50:35 AM

If you really want to get annoyed, watch Nancy Grace. First, she is just annoying period. Then, she uses "gone missing" and "went missing" so many times, it's impossible to even keep count.

steve Says:
1/14/2008 11:43:51 AM

GG, it grates on my ear as well. I just pray that the current overuse will wear it out quickly.

Doug Robinson Says:
1/9/2008 10:52:33 PM

So is the peeve against "went missing" that it is somehow not "logical"? Is that the standard we're holding language up to here?

Paul O. Says:
1/9/2008 12:36:55 PM

You mentioned the term "gone native" in your podcast. Another use of this expression is describe military personnel who embrace a foreign culture while stationed overseas in peace or wartime. Developing a love of the host nation's food, music, clothing, language, or member of the opposite sex would elicit some to grumble, "Sergeant McMurphy loves their food and has a girlfriend in town. He's really gone native."

sla Says:
1/7/2008 4:46:17 PM

One newscast here uses the term "came up missing" - actually is this not worse than "went missing?" How can you "come up" if you are "missing?"

susan Says:
1/7/2008 4:40:18 PM

I agree - when I hear or read "went missing" it makes me cringe.

Ross Says:
1/7/2008 3:21:12 PM

"I've determined the pet peeve of 2008" The recording has 2006 instead of 2008.

Joel Neely Says:
1/7/2008 1:23:39 PM

I concur with Tim's comments. I can't recall the first time I heard "gone missing"; it seems so obvious in view of the common parallels in American usage (e.g. "go nuts", "go postal", "go bad", etc., with various forms of the verb "go").

Paul Hayden Says:
1/5/2008 1:35:07 AM

You stated that you couldn't find a reference for "went missing" prior to the '40s. This is really a nautical term, long ago applied to a missing vessel or shipwreck. We find it used all the time in reference to a ship that sank but has not been found, especially on the Great Lakes. It can be found on charts at the approximate location of the last sighting of a vessel. The roots may be British, as you said. Perhaps its current usage is wrong and misapplied, but in the game of the ancient mariner, it is perfectly clear that a ship "went missing." It is unlikely that the term will stop being used, in that reference at least. BTW, thanks for your podcast. You give us great material to update our style book.

Tim Says:
1/4/2008 9:03:01 AM

It seems that most Americans would have no problem with the expressions "go crazy" or "go hungry" which are very analogous. Using the metaphor of "moving" to a state of being is a core component of the English language, and of most other languages, as well. For example, the verb “to become” could be substituted in any of these expressions (become missing, become crazy, become hungry) “Become” is really just a more archaic expression of motion, as it is rooted in the verb "to come".

A.Turki Says:
1/4/2008 7:29:16 AM

I've seen you in Oprah Show, you were amazing indeed, so I'd like to be one of those who's following the program in here and trying to make my english better.. God blees you, keep it up. Turki