The expression, “went missing” pops up frequently in inquiries from readers of newspaper columns on English usage.
When Chandra Levy Went Missing
Ben Yagoda, writing in the “Chronicle of Higher Education,” traced the expression’s American popularity to the disappearance of Chandra Levy in 2001. He noted that the expression never appeared in The New York Times before 1983 and appeared only twice in 1993. But in 2001, the Times used it 24 times.
Great Lakes Vessels That Went Missing
A search of the web will yield numerous examples of persons who have"gone missing." The book, "Went Missing," by Frederick Stonehouse, "recounts the details of Great Lakes vessels which have been lost with all hands for unknown reasons." Another book, "The Day I Went Missing," by Jennifer Miller, recounts the horrors of discovering that her therapist was a con artist.
Blame it on the British
“I always have attributed it to the British,” wrote Pat Bailey of Oklahoma City in a letter to “Buck’s English,” a tongue-in-cheek usage column in the Daily Oklahoman.
Indeed, Webster's defines "went missing" as "chiefly British."
Those who detest the expression yearn for some grammarian with clout to skewer it for good. But the dictionaries refuse to cooperate. "Went," of course, is the past tense of "go," and Webster's lists "become" as one of the legitimate meanings of that versatile verb.
Yet, people who use the language for a living persist in condemning the expression.
Panned in Vocabula
A visit to the website of "Vocabula," which describes itself as a monthly journal "about the state of the English language," turned up two articles in which the authors state brashly that "went missing" is a grammatical sin.
Condemned by Tab O’Neal
Tab O'Neal, a 30-year veteran of broadcast journalism, wrote in the April 2004 issue that "'went missing' is exemplary of the continuing dumbing down of journalism." He tried to get his staff to say "has been missing" instead of "went missing," but a reporter countered that "my construction was passive and past tense, even though 'went' is past and 'missing' is present!"
If you want to get technical about it, "missing" is neither past nor present tense; it's an adjective, just as "broke" is an adjective in the expression "went broke."
Mitch Delmage Couldn’t Translate It
Mitch Delmage, with more conviction than authority, wrote in the November 2004 "Vocbula": "'Went missing’ is just incorrect. ... I've translated 'went missing' into five different languages and then tried to retranslate it back...it came back with gibberish...which is what ‘went missing’ is."
Many English idioms may come out as gibberish when translated literally into other languages. Try to translate "give up," word for word, into a foreign language.
A Form of Eskimo Suicide
Deanna Sikes, an Oklahoman who lived in Alaska during the 1960s, wrote “Buck’s English” to report that "went missing" is a loose translation of an Inuit word describing a form of suicide once practiced by Arctic peoples.
In the old Eskimo culture, when the elderly reached the point that they felt they were a burden to the community, they would sometimes get friends or close relatives to put them to death. At other times, they would wander off alone, sometimes walking onto an ice floe and drifting out to sea, never to be seen again. Asked where the old-timer was, an Eskimo might respond, "He went missing."
"Anyone who has been in Alaska would know this," wrote Ms. Sikes.
Perhaps Tab O’Neal should announce that any newscaster on his staff caught saying "went missing" would be exiled to an ice floe and cut adrift.
