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Tom Swifty aside, (Grant, please don't leave in disgust: I need you.) I am alarmed that all the dozen-odd contemporary references I have looked in fail to mention any intransitive use of the verb “distress.†I can't even find any reference to an archaic use. But I remember hearing people say: “Don't distress.†“He distressed over his job.†“She distressed about her children.†Granted, I'm pretty archaic myself, but not so archaic that all mention of these intransitive uses of “distress†should fall out of reference materials.
Am I living in an alternate universe? Is my homely mind playing a cruel trick?
I am seriously distressing over this. What do you think?
I think that quite a long list could be made of all such omissions. Sometimes it's the darndest thing. I had a similar problem last month, when I couldn't find any official reference to a certain word or usage (I'm sorry I can't remember what it was now). In these cases I've never thought that my mind was playing tricks. I always blame the references!
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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