Pedants' corner
Gone vs become extinct
CheshireSplat · 30/12/2022 04:48
I've always said "become extinct" but newspapers say "gone extinct" now. It just sounds wrong to me, like really really wrong and it annoys me disproportionately.
When did this change, why and is it correct? I am struggling to think about it grammatically as it grates so badly, so I was hoping someone else would do the hard work for me!
PAFMO · 30/12/2022 08:31
Interesting article here about go/become + extinct.
TL:DR: both are correct, "become" is still more common, "go" is being used with its meaning of "become" (go blind, go mad etc) Etymology of "become" makes it the more formal choice.
www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2010/06/is-this-species-of-english-extinct.html
Interestingly, the article notes that the Oxford dictionary doesn't offer "go + extinct" as a set phrase (or didn't when it was written) but the Oxford Collocations Dictionary (as well as others) does.
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