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Additional_Share_551 t1_iyd4suq wrote

Modern use, casualty exclusively means dead. No one uses casualty to mean no longer fit for battle

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Yoda--29 t1_iyd4wzk wrote

Look up the definition of casualty.

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coldblade2000 t1_iyd6pc0 wrote

> Modern use,

Not really, like at all. Casualties have always been people injured or killed, not just killed.

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KrackasaurusRex t1_iyd5gba wrote

a : a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action The army sustained heavy casualties.

b : a person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed : VICTIM the ex-senator was a casualty of the last election

From Merriam-Webster

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Brian_Lafeve_Jr_ t1_iydeimg wrote

pluralcasualties

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a

: a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action

The army sustained heavy casualties.

b

: a person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed : VICTIM

the ex-senator was a casualty of the last election

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: serious or fatal accident : DISASTER

losses from fire, storm, or other casualty J. S. Seidman

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archaic : CHANCE, FORTUNE

losses that befall them by mere casualty Sir Walter Raleigh

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Lucavii t1_iyeffkz wrote

What? Bruh, people die a lot less in the military now than in the past. It means both but we actually get MORE use of the word describing injured soldiers than killed ones

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UShouldntSayThat t1_iyel45v wrote

No one ever has used casualty to exclusively mean dead. If you've been listening to news reports that say 80k Russian casualties in the current war and assumed that meant how many are dead, you've been mistaken.

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deletable666 t1_iyf29k2 wrote

That is exactly how it is used in the modern context actually. And same with older contexts.

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[deleted] t1_iydr320 wrote

[deleted]

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CrieDeCoeur t1_iydywu9 wrote

It’s almost like the words that make up languages are living things that evolve over time. /s

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