As a librarian I can't let this go without comment. The Macquarie
Dictionary is certainly not the best quality dictionary around, being
based (I understand) on 2 American college dictionaries - nobody
starts a dictionary these days from scratch.
Just look up the verb "destruct" and ask yourself how Australian is this.
Escapee is acceptable for one who has escaped just by virtue of
usage. The Oxford dictionary gives this with the first example going
back to 1875. Escaper is older but is not in current usage.
Susan Knowles
Well, seeing this is an Australian newsgroup, the Macquarie
Dictionary is the bible.
Its definition of escapee is "n. one who has escaped, as from
internment, imprisonment, etc". So feel free to continue to refer
to birds that have escaped from captivity as escapees.
To be fair, the Maquarie also lists escaper as the noun of escape.
For what it is worth, the latin basis for escape is ex cappa -> ex
cloak.
Regards, Laurie.
On Saturday, August 2, 2003, at 06:08 PM, Paul Walbridge wrote:
Philip Veerman wrote;
By the way, the plural of escapee is escapees, DEFINATELY NOT
escapee's (which only makes sense followed by a noun, to mean some
property of the escapee). Also by usual grammar, one who escapes
should be called an escaper (even if that word is not generally
used). The escapee is the one to whom an escape occurs, that is the
prior owner. If the bird is released, the bird is a releasee and
the person releasing it is a releaser.
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