Casually Killed!

'A digest of the law of evidence in criminal cases' page 659.... google books
"Therefore if a person be shooting game or buts or other lawful object and a bystander be casually killed it is only misadventure.
But if it be sport or recreation be unlawful and death results in the course of it , it will be murder or manslaughter .
In other words I would say 'accidently'.
 
It is an unfortunate turn of phrase, but one which crops up quite a lot in old newspapers in reports of accidents. It's like many other phrases and words which have a whole new meaning in our 'modern' language.

Ann
 
This thread has thrust me into "ponder" mode. It's comforting to think that generations past must have gone through the stages of shock and horror at the way a particular word is hi-jacked and given a completely different meaning, just as we feel today. You (I?) tend to think of it as a newfangled, modern, thoroughly annoying bad habit, but the opposite has to be the reality. If a language is living it is dynamic and changing all the time. It would be interesting to discover words other than "casual" which have suffered a similar fate over time. The number would probably be mind-boggling.
 
That was very thought provoking Philippa. So a trip to the Free Dictionary found this...
Casual.....unpremeditated
happening by accident or chance
without definite or serious intention, e.g casual remark
Just a few definitions in a list of many.
All the above fit within 'casually killed'. I've never heard it before so I have learned my something new for the day. :) (apart from learning not to dig cow manure into new gardens when furry friends are about, :mad:)
 
AnnB said:
It is an unfortunate turn of phrase, but one which crops up quite a lot in old newspapers in reports of accidents. It's like many other phrases and words which have a whole new meaning in our 'modern' language.

Ann
Click to expand...

"Friendly fire" in a war zone springs to mind.
 
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