Muncie man faces up to 50 years after molesting plea

Why would he molest a plea?

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Why would he molest a plea?

Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Isn't a noun, not a verb, required to make sense? "Molestation" would be the right word, I think. Or does New Age Grammar disagree?

Furthermore, how is it that "molest" has begun to only be used as a nonspecific term for sexual impropriety? That wasn't the first definition in my old dictionary!

Geoff the language luddite

Reading book.
Playing cards.
Cooking utensils.
Driving gloves.
Turning point.
Milking stool.
Walking dead.

That said, I agree that the headline is momentarily amusing.

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Furthermore, how is it that "molest" has begun to only be used as a nonspecific term for sexual impropriety? That wasn't the first definition in my old dictionary!

I checked OED about how the definition of molest has changed over the years. It was first cited by Chaucer in 1425 to mean "To cause trouble, grief, or vexation to; to disturb, annoy, inconvenience." It wasn't until 1889, in the Jrn.l Anthropol. Inst., that it came to mean "to harrass, attack, or abuse sexually.

From the on-line NY Times: "The Philippine military is verifying a claim by Abu Sayyaf militants that they have kidnapped a German man from a yacht and shot and killed his female companion, whose suspected body was found in the abandoned boat ..."

"Suspected body?" Hmmmmmm...

It doesn't even make sense.

Is the boat abandoned if its occupants are either killed or kidnapped? As you said, Kalleh, the NYT should do better!

I see your point about "abandoned," though in looking it up, it means having been deserted, and I suppose if the occupants are killed, it's deserted.

The word "desert" is interesting. "Desert" a baren land, is pronounced differently from "desert" (to abandon), while the latter is pronounced like "dessert.

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while the latter is pronounced like "dessert.

More like "dezzert" here in the UK.

dez-URT (the food; DEZ-urt (Barren land)