Re: 'together vs. to gather'

E fésto Doug Dee <AmateurLinguist@...>:
> In a message dated 1/18/2004 6:01:19 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> hotblack@FRATH.NET writes:
>
>> I dont see anything in the semantics of "massacre" that require a plural
>> anywhere...
>
> This may vary by dialect/idiolect.  Many people find "General Custer
> massacred an Indian here" to be strange to the point of
> ungrammaticality, on the grounds that it isn't a "massacre" unless a
> whole bunch of victims are involved.  So, he could massacre "a hundred
> Indians", or "a tribe", but  not "an Indian." Your judgments may vary.
>
> I hope I haven't started an English dialect thread . . .
:x)
Probably.  Google does list results for massacre with a singular object,
though (e.g. "Even if I had survived the precarious climb, the Natives
would have massacred me had I come without the mandatory guide.")


        *Muke!
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