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November 24, 2011 11:37 pm
What does it mean to be "run over" by a car? Doesn't that denote the automobile moving over the body of a person? Why do news/reporters use this phrase when someone has been "hit" by a car. Also, what about the phrase "he ran him over" when referring to being hit by a vehicle - "ran him over" what!
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November 25, 2011 10:14 am
Run over can mean pass above, but it can also mean knock down. A lamp may be tipped over: this does not imply that something is now over the lamp, nor that the lamp is over something, only that it is no longer vertical. Instead of being tipped over, a pedestrian is run over by a car. A tree can fall over a cliff, but it can also just fall over. One use is prepositional, the other adverbial.