I just listened to the broadcast for the first time.
WOW, I TALK FAST.
Perhaps it was because I was so nervous.
I wanted to listen to it because I’ve been reading the comments about my opinion on “gone missing,” and I’ve realized that I inadvertently said something that I did not mean.
When the first caller, Vijay, called in, he was talking about how he didn’t like when the expression “gone missing” was used in the news.
At one point, he said, “It shouldn’t be ‘gone missing,’ it should be ‘is missing.'”
When he said that, I thought he meant that in headlines, it should say “is missing” and that the headline should have read, “Seventeen-year-old girl is missing.”
I thought that he meant that headlines that use only the verb’s past participle are incorrect.
“‘Seventeen-year-old girl gone missing,'” I said. “Wouldn’t it be correct to say, ‘seventeen-year-old girl eaten by a bear’? This is in a headline. Um….using just a past participle, like that, that seems to be correct, to me.”
This is, genuinely, what I meant all along. I wasn’t even talking about the expression. I hope this explanation shows how I didn’t mean to say “gone missing” was okay; I meant to show that using the past participle only in headlines was okay, and is standard.
Now, I can truly answer the question: what do I think about “gone missing”? I actually haven’t ever thought about that.
If we’re talking about headlines, then just missing should work: Camp Counselor Missing Since Thursday.
You know what? It sounds a bit awkward, but I’m not entirely sure that it is outright wrong. I need to consult a few more sources.
However, based on personal opinion alone, I know that in journalism, you’re not supposed to use any words that place blame. For example, He is an admitted homosexual is incorrect because the word “admitted” implies blame. “Gone missing” sounds like the person became missing of his or her own accord, and that it is therefore his or her fault.
Therefore, I think that I would lean closer to saying no to “gone missing.”
And again, sorry about the fast talking, and the Valley Girl thing. I was very nervous. And I always forget that I can’t stand the sound of my own voice!
Also, to clear one other thing up: I do have a job, a real job, a job that requires a college degree, a job that requires 40 hours of work each week. I’ve worked there for almost a year and you can read all about it in Kate’s Adventures under the category “Working Girl.” (I choose not to identify my employer by name in my blogs.)
I said what I said on the broadcast because I know that there are so many better opportunities out there.