went missing

tweed   Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:30 am GMT
for years people on the news said someone has "turned up missing" now they say "went missing". I know "turned up missing" is an oxymoron but why did it take so long for this change?
Uriel   Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:57 pm GMT
Both are still in common use. They are both sort of idiomatic, so there is no real pressure to have them conform to strictly "logical" constructions -- I have never thought of "turned up missing" as an oxymoron, simply because I'm used to the saying. Both are alternatives to the simpler and more direct "is missing".
Chamonix   Sun Oct 02, 2005 12:12 am GMT
I don't believe "turned up missing" is an oxymoron. Not at all.
Turn up is an expression.
I hear both variations though.
tweed   Sun Oct 02, 2005 4:07 pm GMT
the consensus here is that you cant have turned up yet if you are missing.thats an oxymoron.
american nic   Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:00 pm GMT
That's odd...I've never heard the expression 'turned up missing'...or else I haven't ever paid attention. To me, if we're talking about something or someone missing, and someone says 'turn up', they usually are refering the the stage of being missing known as 'found'.
Chamonix   Mon Oct 03, 2005 6:09 pm GMT
Tweed,

Maybe "Turned up" doesn't refer to the person who went missing, it refers to the whole situation " it turned up missing".
However , I have never heard anyone saying turned up, I heard went missing.