RandAlThorMan electrocuted to death whilst stealing electrical cable
ThatWeirdGuy1001Kinda redundant to say "electrocuted to death "
Could have just been injured. Electrocution doesn’t always mean death.
According to Miriam-Webster, the definition of electrocuted is:
to kill or severely injure by electric shock
It did until people kept misusing it like this.
It’s a combination of electricity and execution. If you survived you were just shocked. If you died you were electrocuted.
Interesting. I never knew that about it’s etymology.
I just looked it up quickly and it seems to be way more nuanced than that. According to at least one article, it was used prior to the first electrical execution in 1899 as a means of referring to a non-fatal shock.
visualthesaurus.com/…/electrocution-a-shocking-mi…
Either way, I think it’s splitting hairs. It’s common and acceptable usage anymore to use that term meaning a non-fatal shock. So the clarification in the title doesn’t come across as redundant to me.
Electrocution: A Shocking Misuse? : Word Count : Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus
Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus: Word Count - Many people complain about the use of elecrocute to mean "to shock non-lethally." But as with most usage complaints, it's not that simple. The argument is that electrocute only means "to kill with electricity," not "to shock with electricity." The purists have etymology on their side — but only to a degree.
daveJust because people have been wrong since 1899, it doesn’t mean we should put up with it.
It’s becoming, as they say, a big of a problem.
The real shock is that words somehow change meaning over time…
QuestyI also had no idea that this was the meaning. Since I electrocuted myself with a fork and an outlet as a child I have the cool feature of being undead. Dope.