• EleventhHour@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Startled, the woman grabbed a shotgun and struck the vervet monkey.

    Such odd phrasing; did she shoot the monkey or just beat it with the shotgun? It’s hard to tell because of the word choice “struck”.

    • lemonmelon@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      I parse this as “the woman used the shotgun to hit the monkey.” If any other meaning was intended, the word choice is poor.

      • EleventhHour@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        Yes, but hit it with what? A bullet or with the shotgun itself? See, it doesn’t say that she shot it, and one might conclude that, since it didn’t die immediately and survived long enough to be taken to a vet hospital where it later died, perhaps she just used the shotgun to savagely beat the animal.

        I mean, if the monkey attacked her, she might not be able to get off a shot since shotguns are almost useless in close quarters. She might have had to use the shotgun to bludgeon the monkey until it stopped attacking.

        • lemonmelon@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          “The woman used the shotgun to bludgeon the monkey.”

          If they had meant that she shot the monkey, I would be surprised if they used any phrasing other than “The woman grabbed a shotgun and shot the monkey.”

          Maybe I’m not interpreting what happened correctly, but to me it seems clear.