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A comment on Seven people have acquired malaria in the US. They’re the first in 20 years. Parent comment

Re:Seven people have acquired malaria in the US. They’re the... by prometheus76 on Friday July 07, 2023 @08:55AM (#36630990)
Ac*quire" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acquired (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Acquiring (?).] [L. acquirere, acquisitum; ad + quarere to seek for. In OE. was a verb aqueren, fr. the same, through OF. aquerre. See Quest..] To gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own; as, to acquire a title, riches, knowledge, skill, good or bad habits.

"usually by one's own exertions" does not fit contracting a disease or being infected.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Seven people have acquired malaria in the US. They’re the... by WarOnPrivacy on Friday July 07, 2023 @09:06AM (#36631131)
> "usually by one's own exertions" does not fit contracting a disease or being infected.

In professional settings, terms get chosen for ability to reliably convey specific scenarios. I suspect that ability better determines their adoption, rather than how they might align with language norms of a particular decade.

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Re:Seven people have acquired malaria in the US. They’re the... by ljf on Friday July 07, 2023 @10:03AM (#36631942)
People acquire disabilities: https://employersforchange.ie/Acquired-Disabilities#:~:text=....

The important bit in your wording above isn't the 'by ones own exertions' but: "to get as one's own"

Since these are people who caught malaria in the USA, rather than elsewhere and simply travelled here, the wording makes good sense.

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