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#187861 11/18/09 11:57 PM
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olly Offline OP
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Can anyone tell me what 'redacted' could mean in this context.

The child was "violently kicking and verbally combative" when Bradshaw tried to take her into custody and she kicked him in the groin. He delivered "a very brief drive stun to her back," the report said.

The names of the girl and her mother were redacted in the report.

olly #187862 11/19/09 12:15 AM
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The names were censored out, either by "blacking" them out or excising them in some way.

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olly Offline OP
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Thanks, I thought that may be the case but was unsure due to my imprecise definition of the word.

olly #187866 11/19/09 03:20 AM
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re⋅dact  /rɪˈdækt/ [ri-dakt]

–verb (used with object)
1. to put into suitable literary form; revise; edit.
2. to draw up or frame (a statement, proclamation, etc.).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L red&#257;ctus (ptp. of redigere to lead back), equiv. to red- red- + &#257;ctus, ptp. of agere to lead; see act

Related forms:

re&#8901;dac&#8901;tion, noun
re&#8901;dac&#8901;tion&#8901;al, adjective
re&#8901;dac&#8901;tor, noun

Dictionary.com

Retracted darned near fits, olly, in your example.

Jackie #187869 11/19/09 11:59 AM
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These features have changed.

"Poll Manager( Total Polls: 0)
Add this thread to my Watched Topics.
Add my signature to this post. "

"HTML is enabled.
UBBCode is enabled.... "---not really.

That's why I can't read your post well , Jackie.

mad What's with this Post Poll Manager?
This world is managed, advised and polled to pieces.
What's going on? Are the targets not hit?
(well, maybe it's the weather)

Oh, sorry, there still is THE LINK.

Last edited by BranShea; 11/19/09 01:50 PM.
BranShea #187871 11/19/09 01:41 PM
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Wiktionary says:
"1. Edited or censored.
The government released the redacted document, but most of it was blacked out as secret."


Also at Searchcio,
http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid182_gci1029839,00.html we have

" - To redact is to edit, or prepare for publishing. Frequently, a redacted document, such as a memo or e-mail message, has simply had personal (or possibly actionable) information deleted or blacked out; as a consequence, redacted is often used to describe documents from which sensitive information has been expunged"

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I wonder if this isn't just another example of an existing word taking on new meanings until ultimately you'll be able to write anything at all with a series of words chosen at random, the recipient of which will read into it anything he wishes

http://wordsmith.org/board/ubbthreads.php/topics/187677/2

So olly grit your teeth, bear up, and just drive on


dalehileman
BranShea #187886 11/20/09 02:10 AM
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That's why I can't read your post well , Jackie.
Geez, I can't either! I'm glad I put the link!

Anu told me he had upgraded the board software to the latest version and that the vendor is working on version 8 (whatever that means). I think perhaps not everything is ok with this upgrade.

dalehileman #187888 11/20/09 02:48 AM
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Originally Posted By: dalehileman
I wonder if this isn't just another example of an existing word taking on new meanings until ultimately you'll be able to write anything at all with a series of words chosen at random, the recipient of which will read into it anything he wishes.


That's just nice.

Faldage #187896 11/20/09 06:37 PM
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Hi Fal good to hear from you again

But what's nice


dalehileman
dalehileman #187897 11/20/09 06:43 PM
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"I wonder if this isn't just another example of an existing word taking on new meanings until ultimately you'll be able to write anything at all with a series of words chosen at random, the recipient of which will read into it anything he wishes."

The end of all verbal combat.

Faldage #187898 11/20/09 08:49 PM
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Originally Posted By: Faldage
Originally Posted By: dalehileman
I wonder if this isn't just another example of an existing word taking on new meanings until ultimately you'll be able to write anything at all with a series of words chosen at random, the recipient of which will read into it anything he wishes.


That's just nice.


I looked up nice. a clever retort. grin

dalehileman #187900 11/21/09 03:06 AM
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Originally Posted By: dalehileman
Hi Fal good to hear from you again

But what's nice


In this case it'd changed form its original meaning of 'ignorant' to 'stupid'.

Faldage #187912 11/22/09 12:20 AM
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Geez, I didn't know I was so nice...

twosleepy #187916 11/22/09 12:57 PM
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Nice is the poster boy of semantic shift. And somehow, through it all, the English language has survived and is able to clearly express every one of these concepts.

Faldage #187918 11/22/09 01:52 PM
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Nice is the poster boy of semantic shift.

Yes, it is. But, in the case of nice, its older meanings have, more or less, been replaced by its current meaning. There are some other outcomes. At least two off the top of my head: (a) words like set and file that have multiple meanings but are basically from the same older word (etymologically speaking) and (b) words like mole which has multiple meanings and has almost as many etymologies.

1. Hand me the file.
2. Mary was out standing on the mole.

1. and 2. are ambiguous, except that sentences like these are extremely unlikely to occur in complete isolation. 1. depends on whether we are in a metal shop or a doctor's office; 2., more humorously, depends on whether it's uttered by a dermatologist, zoologist, or harbor master. Context, and in speech, repetition and emendation, usually remove any ambiguity from the text.

Next, the argument that polysemy leads to the eventual failure of communication and the destruction of the language is easily proved wrong by looking, however cursorily, at a page in a dictionary (in any language): there are very few entries for words with a single meaning, and those are usually words that a rare or archaic.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
zmjezhd #187924 11/22/09 06:39 PM
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"Nice is the poster boy of semantic shift"

( sounds like the first line of a T.S. Elliot poem )

BranShea #187926 11/22/09 07:03 PM
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You'll still see nice used in the sense of 'precise, careful', as in a nice distinction. And certainly as the word shifted in meaning there was always a period when both uses could easily be encountered at the same time.

Faldage #187930 11/22/09 10:08 PM
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I see it here in the sense of 'precise, careful, as in a nice distinction' because I choose to see it this way. As it has gone from one meaning to the next and then back again, it can be used as you like it. I know you used it meaning foolish, stupid, but I find two different definitions for it.
I still say: "Nice meeting you".

nice 1
nice 2

BranShea #187932 11/22/09 10:33 PM
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olly Offline OP
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I found this quite interesting Nice

olly #187942 11/23/09 10:15 AM
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A very nice page indeed Mr.Olly. It's worthwhile scrolling down for all the more or less related words. There's a pretty generous collection of related stuff.

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