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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   Edited 1yr ago   4942 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 13, 2022

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Is there a name for referring to a person or other living being as a noun referring to a situation that it was involved in? The two examples that come to mind are:

  • "a suicide" as opposed to "a person who committed suicide".

  • "my dog was a rescue" as opposed to "my dog was rescued".

I've never heard anyone say "my dog is a rescue" and the only times I've heard suicide used as a noun would be cops saying "it was a suicide" and I think its referring to the situation, or its just an idiomatic it like "it's raining outside."

Could you give another example of what you mean?

It does have a historical basis.

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