"Electrocuted to death"

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

semi-literate, imbeciles.

[soup]

What's wrong with electrocuted to death?

I suppose it could be electrocuted until dead.

[The Natural Philosopher]

electrocution is execution by electricity and implies death already

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Electrified, if that doesn't sound a bit flippant. Simply shocked to death is perfectly acceptable.

[Roger Mills]

Well my dictionary defines electrocute as "kill by electricity" - so, if you ain't dead you ain't electrocuted. "Electrocute to death" is therefore a tautology.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , The Natural Philosopher escribió:

I'd understood electrocuti Definition of electrocute verb [with object]: injure or kill (someone) by electric shock: 'a man was electrocuted on the rail track'

Note the 'or'.

[polygonum]

Perhaps the etymology is more explicit than current-day definitions?

electrocute (v.) "execute by electricity," 1889, American English, from electro- + back half of execute. The method first was used Aug. 6, 1890, in New York state, on William Kemmler, convicted of the murder of his common-law wife. Sense involving accidental death is first recorded

1909. Electric chair is also first recorded 1889, which is when the first one was introduced in New York state as a humane alternative to hanging. Related: Electrocuted; electrocuting.

(n.) Look up electrocution at Dictionary.com 1890; see electrocute + -ion. Meaning "any death by electricity" is from 1940.

can imagine that some lazy, ignorant, sensationationalist journalist(s) used the word in non-fatal cases. The OED (as it says it does) simply recorded its usage. And that has been used to backup its non-fatal usage ever since.

Also:

[Brian Gaff]

It all depends on what you mean by electrocuted I suppose. Its a funny old term. Brian

[John Rumm]

I seem to recall that the term came into common use as a portmanteau of the words electric and execute around the time of the "war of the currents" in the US.

I have always felt it should only ever be used for fatal electric shocks.

[Mike Tomlinson]

In article , Grimly Curmudgeon writes

To me, 'electrified' means the same as 'energised' - i.e. it's live.

Or to describe something which has been converted to work on electrical power - 'the water pump is now electrified'

Or to describe something particularly gripping - 'the movie was electrifying'

[geraldthehamster]

Indeed. Electrocution may indeed be a method of execution, but so are hanging and shooting. None necessarily has a fatal outcome: you can be electrocuted, hanged or shot, but survive.

Cheers Richard

[whisky-dave]

r

But not neccassarily in that order, so is there another word when you get a= shock from electricity (and I don't mean the prices) but don't die. I thought it was 'ok' to be electrocuted and not die from it.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

That's like saying 'fatally shot' and not die from it.

[whisky-dave]

So why does one headline read.....

"Contractor killed after being electrocuted in Marks and Spencer store"

why mention being killed. or what is the term when you grab hold of say the live wire and you jerk around a bit or get flung over the other side of the room but survive, is it that you've just recived an electric shock ? I wonder if you can be brought back to life after being electrocuted or is that an oxymoron :)

[The Natural Philosopher]

in which case it wasn't an execution...

[John Rumm]

Because it was written by a sub editor with the intellect of a sausage?

I would say so.

I suppose in the sense that one can be clinically dead and revived, then you might argue yes. Although in that case it would probably be incorrect to use the term electrocution in the first place, since execution typically denotes a certain amount of finality.

[Mentalguy2k8]

Marks and Sparks, eh?

[Man at B&Q]

Language, and its use, changes. Get over it.

MBQ

[djc]

Unfortunately all modern dictionaries take the wimpy way and just record usage, rather than attempt to define a correct meaning. Which might be reasonable if they confined citation to the careful and literate, but they feel the need to be democratic and give weight to the babbling of the ignorant. And thus our language slowly turns to mush.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Yes, from you, that's expected.