“Giant Telescope Begins Scouring Space” writes the Associated Press in a story picked up unchanged by numerous news sources. My first thought: “Space will be so clean when it’s done.” Let’s go to the dictionary definition and have a look:
- a : to rub hard especially with a rough material for cleansing b : to remove by rubbing hard and washing — How does one rub a void?
- archaic : to clear (a region) of enemies or outlaws — SDI Redux!
- to clean by purging : PURGE
- to remove dirt and debris from (as a pipe or ditch) — Ooh! Ooh! We’re finally going to take care of space debris!
- to free from foreign matter or impurities by or as if by washing <scour wool> — Once we are rid of the space junk, there better be none of that left up there.
- to clear, dig, or remove by or as if by a powerful current of water
OK, so the other definition of scouring is “to go through or range over in or as if in a search”, which is clearly the one the author intended to use. But it’s still funny!
