‘We appreciate the sacrifices many have made throughout COVID-19 developments’, said His Excellency at a recent press conference. This makes me wonder if he knows what the word sacrifice actually means, and how to use it properly.
Imagine that you’re in a crowded room when someone rolls a grenade into the center of the room. Now consider two possible ways that this might play out.
In the first, a guy chooses to jump on the grenade, smothering its blast with his body, in order to save the other people in the room. He is making a sacrifice.
In the second, two guys throw a third guy onto the grenade, smothering its blast with his body, in order to save themselves. He is being sacrificed.
See the difference?
So I think His Excellency misspoke. He should have said that he appreciates the many who have been sacrificed.
Or more precisely, the many whom he has sacrificed.
