> More like being "sank while being towed" I think? (edit: original title was "C... | Hacker News

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thaumasiotes on April 14, 2022 | parent | context | favorite | on: Moskva cruiser sank while being towed in a storm –...

> More like being "sank while being towed" I think? (edit: original title was "Cruiser 'Moskva' sank while towing")

Fun fact: in early modern English, "towing" was the correct passive participial form, and "being towed" was ungrammatical.

WJW on April 14, 2022 [–]

Wow, TIL! How would the early English have expressed "towing" in the active sense though?

thaumasiotes on April 14, 2022 | [–]

The same way. You'd have to make the distinction through context.

read (a little) more: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2903

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