Thursday November 1, 2007
Sent to the gallows?
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED by FADZILAH AMIN
I BELIEVE the headline ‘Stir in court as jobless man is sent to the gallows’ in a newspaper on Oct 4 is incorrect – “sent to the gallows” should have been substituted with “sentenced to death”.
“Sent to the gallows” meant that the man was already executed. Please enlighten me if I’m wrong. – James H.K. Chew, Kuala Lumpur
“Sent to the gallows” does not mean “hanged/executed”. It is an informal way of saying “sentenced to death”. However, I agree with you that it is better to use the formal expression to avoid misunderstanding.
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