“went missing/gone missing”?

Is it any worse than "go crazy", "go awry", "go nuts", or "go gaga over"?

The OED has, under "go":

44. To pass into a certain condition. Chiefly implying deterioration. [...] to go missing: to get lost

I think "went missing" is now common in reporting (print and other media) because it serves a purpose not easily fulfilled by other means. Consider this news item I found today at MSNBC.com: "Mystery surrounds why search teams have been unable to find a father and daughter who went missing during a hiking trip in the Colorado mountains, a Colorado sheriff said Friday." You might argue, what about "disappeared"? Well, technically we don't know if they vanished, but we do know that according to friends and family they are missing. I have no problem with this usage.

Yes, Jimmy, they could have said that, but your version leaves open the possibility the two people took a hiking trip and later became missing. The "went missing during a hiking trip" leaves no doubt about the chronology; and besides, I kind of like the idiomatic "went missing"--it has a feeling of action about it that seems appropriate ;-).

Well, Nancy, I'm sorry the idiom so upsets you, but like many idioms it appears to have ensconced itself in the English language (but in no other I'm aware of), so we might as well get used to it. I checked with Grammar Girl, and though she too is not fond of the usage, notes the following: "The reason went missing sounds strange to Americans is that it's a British idiom (1, 2). I've seen sources placing the first use of went missing as far back as 1944 (3), but my version of the Oxford English Dictionary places the first use in a 1958 book by British writer Norman Franks (4). The OED places gone missing in the same category as the phrase go native, which is used to describe a turn to or relapse into savagery or heathenism." (http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/went-missing.aspx) So if one must place blame, put it on the Brits. Meanwhile, I suspect most of us will refrain from wincing upon seeing/hearing its use.

@Nancy - if you had said in American English, you might have had a point, as this expression seems to grate over there. But in my branch of the English language (BrE), it is an absolutely normal expression. There is an easy answer to most of these questions: if you don't like it, don't use it. But don't criticise others for whom it is standard. I don't particularly like where you put 'truly' in your sentence, but that's your choice.

@porsche - thanks for introducing me to a new word - I'd never seen 'conniption' (mainly AmE) before.

We need to put this issue to rest. Again today I find the idiom used on a US news site, msnbc.msn.com: "By NBC New York
Police have identified the remains found on Monday in a Long Island marsh as those of Shannan Gilbert, a New Jersey woman who went missing in May 2010." I suspect it's become just as common now in American English as in British English, and, as it violates no rule of grammar I'm aware of, we all just need to accept it. As Warsaw Will says, don't use it if you don't like it, but don't put down those who do.

dot, please don't SHOUT. Now try to apply your view to the quote in my Dec. 17 post, "...a New Jersey woman who went missing in May 2010." How would you do that? At any rate, there is simply no argument against what has clearly become common usage in the press (and elsewhere). It's like arguing that gas stations should advertise "Self-Service" rather than "Self-Serve." One can, but where does it get you?

nuffsaid, did you bother to read the comments above, especially Warsaw Will's? We are dealing with an idiomatic expression that now appears well ensconced in American English, after being so in British English for a long time. It does not "sound terrible" to my ears (in contrast with, for example, "those kind," which folks on TV say regularly). Please try to get over it ;-).

Went missing is perfectly fine. The verb go is a catenative verb and thus can chain together with, in its case, an infinitive and a gerund.

Scroll down a bit and go can be found listed:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_catenative_verbs#Followed_by_a_to-infinitive_or_a_gerund

DesertRat71,

I honestly don't see any problem with wikitionary in this case, and it usually has usage notes on words or phrases that are or are seen as ungrammatical. So, thy point is meaningless, but I'll indulge thee.

Catenative verb: "A verb--such as keep, promise, want, seem, and many others--that can link with other verbs to form a chain or series."

Source: http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/catenativeverbterm.htm

Catenative: "Denoting a verb that governs a nonfinite form [a present participle, past participle, or infinitive, bare or full] of another verb, for example, like in I like swimming."

Source: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/catenative

Wiktionary was used for the express purpose of listing catenative verbs of which "go" is one.

"It appears the authoritative declaration of correct grammar went missing."

No, it didn't. The phrase isn't ungrammatical. Catenative verbs exist; thus, these phrases make sense. The quibbles are purely for a stylistic reason.

@DesertRat71 - ' "Gone missing" has a "street" ring to it and causes the person saying it to appear lacking in education. If this is the sort of thing they were taught in school it's an indictment of our education system. Then again, maybe they're attempting to appeal more to the uneducated.' - You don't actually say why you think this is wrong, so we have to do a bit of guesswork.

If it's because go is being followed by a gerund, as Jasper has pointed out, many verbs are followed by an infinitive or gerund. You'll find lists of these if you Google "verb patterns". Go + 'ing' form is common in talking about sports and activities - "go fishing, go cycling"etc.

But, as is perhaps more likely, your objection is that "go missing" is not a deliberate action, you would seem to have some support from GrammarGirl here. On the other hand "go" is often used as a linking verb for describing events over which the subject has no control - "go bald, go grey, go numb" etc.

As has been mentioned a couple of times above, this is a British idiom, which for us Brits is absolutely standard, and quite old. Here are some 19th century examples:

"That was the letter that went missing ?" - Victoria Parliamentary Papers (Australia) 1859
"the marshal requested the stranger to tell the true reason for his refusing to be searched when the snuff-box went missing" - Short stories 1876
"Not an accident occurred under his care, not a piece of baggage went missing" - Crusading with Knights Templar, Pennsylvania 1878
"But I know that if they went missing I should feel pretty happy" The Granta 1890

But recently it has begun to appear more and more in American publications, and it does seem to be something that grates on some American ears.

It is perhaps worth quoting the famous William Safire, writing in his 'On Language' column in the New York Times in 2004:

"Why has the construction lasted so long and now blossomed? It does a semantic job that needs doing, that's why. No other term quite encapsulates ''to become lost inexplicably and unexpectedly,'' which connotes suspicion of trouble. From the most serious loss (a person kidnapped, or a soldier unaccounted for or absent without leave) to an irritating minor loss (an object is mislaid), to go missing -- always in its past tense, went , or past participle, gone -- conveys a worried, nonspecific meaning that no other word or phrase quite does.

Is it good grammar? It may well stretch our hard-wired sense of syntax. To critics, a simple is missing would solve the problem. But because gone missing has acquired the status of an idiom, which is ''an unassailable peculiarity,'' it is incorrect to correct it. As the fumblerule goes, ''idioms is idioms.'' Relax and enjoy them." (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/27/magazine/27ONLANGUAGE.html)

There are discussions of this question at these linguistics blogs:

Separated By a Common Language:
http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2009/12/words-of-year-2009-staycation-and-go.html

Not One Off Britishisms:
http://britishisms.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/go-missing/

Language Log
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001142.html

Thank God I am MOT crazy. For the last 10 years i have been aghast as well as bemused at this seemingly "sudden" change in grammar when referring to the "disappearance " so something or someone.Usually "a person"or "an airplane".
God thank you for guiding me to the good old "Google". Now I know, as I thought, it is just another slang attempting to be sophisticated in the British fashion. Now I can sleep at night.Yeah!

This expression (and its variations) drives me crazy. It’s right up there with “the reason being” instead of “the reason is” or, more simply, “because “!

The English language is getting slaughtered ????

For LaurenBC: I find it's useful to read previous comments before posting. For example, Warsaw Will on June 6, 2014, contributed a lengthy discussion of the idiom's history and defense which included the fact that it's been seen in British written texts as early as 1859.

So the phrase is not of recent origin and is now widely accepted. I think fewer folks are bothered by it than by, say, the use of multiple question marks (or exclamation points in declarative sentences) in online posts.

I dislike the use of this phrase as a replacement for any phrase which implies blame or responsibility. It is easier for someone to say "my purse went missing" than "I misplaced my purse", etc. It is similar to a person choosing to say "The glass broke" as opposed to "I broke the glass". We are so very good at denying blame or responsibility.

"Went missing"

I've never liked the phrase.
It seemed to come out of nowhere (2000?) and, like some other expressions today (Awesome!), gets run into the ground.

Worse yet, 'went missing' can connote a too casual feeling, highly inappropriate when you consider the often troubling, sad circumstances in which its used. Not so bad when it's a favorite pen, but when it's people, W-M is a bad play on words.

I know it is grammatically correct, but I find it grating. Perhaps because it is now overused. I think People use it because it is trendy and they seem to project some superiority with their new phrase.