In today’s New York Times, writers Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer have assembled one of those contemplative think pieces about the events of September 11, 2001 that will presumably continue to be annual media occurrences for at least the next few years. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but in their “Falling Bodies, a 9/11 Image Etched in Pain”, the authors engage in a multi-page examination of the cultural impact (or lack thereof) of those people who specifically perished by leaping to their deaths from the intimidating heights of the two towers of the World Trade Center. And it is a suitably sad and moving tale, though presented rather analytically.
From a syntax standpoint, however, we have to ask: how did the word “defenestrate” not make one single appearance in this article?
Categories
One reply on “…And we threw this entire post together without using the word “tasteless””
“Defenestrate” doesn’t appear in the article because it’s a transitive verb meaning “to throw [an object or person] out of a window” and hence doesn’t mean the same thing as jumping out on one’s own volition.