Past tense of Stop-Loss 1

[rjoubert]

I saw the trailer for the new movie, "Stop Loss", last night. In one scene, there is an Army sergeant telling Ryan Phillippe's character that he has been "stop lossed" or "stop lost." Which is correct for the past tense of stop loss? I did a quick search on Google for both spellings, and I saw references to both.

In case the definition of a military stop loss helps to clear things up...

STOP LOSS means extending a military person in the Guard or Reserves, or on active duty, beyond what their normal separation date would be. Those who join the military agree to this provision under paragraph 9c of the enlistment contract states:

In the event of war, my enlistment in the Armed Forces continues until six (6) months after the war ends, unless my enlistment is ended sooner by the President of the United States.

 

[BobRodes]

<you still need to remember that modifications to compound words are applied to the appropriate subcomponent

That may be so, but it's not always clear what an "appropriate subcomponent" is. For example, I've never heard anyone say that "pancaked" should be "pannedcake." The reason to me is that the original meaning of a cake in a pan is a bit obscure to the meaning of flattened that the word has. It seems to me that "stoploss" (and it will not surprise me if the hyphen and/or space disappears in short order, as with many of our compound words) is just such a word; the meaning of preventing attrition of troops is rather tangential to the meaning of not letting someone go home when his tour of duty is up. As such, the entire compound word takes on a meaning of its own. It seems to me that when this happens in our language that most often the word is inflected as if it were a single word, rather than a compound of others.

 

[SantaMufasa]

If I turn over the ownership of a property, I do so with a quitclaim deed, or simply a quitclaim. Quitclaim has also become a verb, and thus, has a past participle.

If I did that action yesterday, I would say, "I quitclaimed the property." I would not say "I quittedclaimed..." or "I quitclaim the property."

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[CajunCenturion]

Methinks that what was an unconvinced, yet open-minded, Santa as of 28 Mar 08 20:36, is now one of a somewhat different mind.


--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[SantaMufasa]

Methinks that yathinks correctly...As the Judy Collins song lyrics say: &quot;...I've looked at clouds (and this topic) from both sides now...&quot;

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[CajunCenturion]

--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein