leave scores more injured

[Nefertiti]

"The secretary-general condemns, in the strongest of terms, the terrorist bombing in northern Baghdad today, which has reportedly killed over 50 people and left scores more injured."

1. What does 'and (has) left scores more injured' mean?



2. What does 'scores' mean here?


Thanks

[Kraken]

I'm not a teacher.
"Scores" here means a large number of people.

[Nefertiti]

"The bombing has left scores more injured."

1. Does it mean 'the bombing has left scores of people more injured'?

2. Is 'more' modifying 'scores' or 'injured' in the quote?

3. Is it true that scores are fewer than hundreds and hundreds are fewer than thousands?

Thanks

[Methuselah]

"The bombing has left scores more injured."

1. Does it mean 'the bombing has left scores of people more injured'?

2. Is 'more' modifying 'scores' or 'injured' in the quote?

3. Is it true that scores are fewer than hundreds and hundreds are fewer than thousands?

Thanks

I am not an English teacher, I am a native English speaker.


The original use of the word 'score' meant 'to make a mark'.

Many years ago farmers would cut notches(marks) on a stick to count sheep. Each notch on the stick represented 20 sheep.

Therefore "scores" (plural) would mean 40, 60, 80, 100...

The 'more' in this case refers to more people, not more injured

50 people were killed and 40 or more people injured.

[Kraken]

You're right about the word "score" meaning 20. But I've heard that "scores" has little to do with it, and it rather refers to large amounts (lots and lots) of people.

In this context, I couldn't say exactly how many of them are injured (neither does the reporter). But as a matter of fact, the number of casualties usually doubles or trebles the number of fatalities. As many as 150-200 wouldn't be far from right.

Just my two cents

[Methuselah]

You're right about the word "score" meaning 20. But I've heard that "scores" has little to do with it, and it rather refers to large amounts (lots and lots) of people.

In this context, I couldn't say exactly how many of them are injured (neither does the reporter). But as a matter of fact, the number of casualties usually doubles or trebles the number of fatalities. As many as 150-200 wouldn't be far from right.

Just my two cents

I hear you, but I think it's important when translating to explain what was actually said. Not what I think the writer was trying to say.
This gives the person I'm helping the ability to create their own English, rather than copying verbatim.

[Nefertiti]

Hi, Methuselah.

You wrote:
"50 people were killed and 40 or more people injured."

When you say 40 or more , you mean 60, 80, 100, 120....

Is it possible the head counts for injured people to be 50, 70, 90, 110... ?

How does the reporter know the counts of the injured people to be the multiples of 20?

Thanks

[Methuselah]

If I say "hundreds of people were killed".

It does NOT mean that 100 , 200, 300 , 400 ... or more people were killed.

It is the same with "scores of people were killed".

I carried out a Google search on "scores of people were killed"

Here are some of the results;
Scores killed in Iraq bloodshed number = 130


Scores of Shiites Killed in Iraq in 2nd Day of Strife number = 70
Scores die in Iraq bombings number = 37

Scores killed in Chinese train collision number = 57

Twin bombs kill scores in Baghdad number = 70

Scores killed in rush-hour terror in India number = 147

You will see that the average amount for 'scores' is between 40 and 150.

As a rough guide I would say the following;

12 > 40 = "Dozens"
40 > 150 = "Scores"
150 > 1000 = "Hundreds"
1000 > 3000 = "Thousands"
3000 > 6000 = "Legions"

[vil]

Hi Nefertiti,

There is a clasical example of a perfect usage of the term "score"from no less person than Abraham Lincoln :

The Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Four score and seven years = 87 years

Regards.

V.

[Kraken]

I quite agree with Methuselah.
When someone is trying to report a number which is uncertain, they give a piece of information which lets us read between the lines.

This way, someone can say "dozens". How many of them? 4, 5, 6... but not many more, because then it's more suitable to talk of "scores" as multiples of 20. Again, if there are more than 7, 8 scores, you should start using "hundreds" instead.

But still, "scores" is a word itself, not only the plural of scores and therefore not only "multiples of 20":


Definition of "scores" at Define.com Dictionary and Thesaurus

2 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

scores

noun: a large number or amount; "made lots of new friends"; "she amassed a mountain of newspapers" [syn: {tons}, {dozens}, {heaps}, {lots}, {mountain}, {piles}, {stacks}, {loads}, {rafts}, {slews}, {wads}, {oodles}, {gobs}, {scads}, {lashings}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

36 Moby Thesaurus words for "scores": a mass of, a world of, army, bevy, bunch, cloud, clutter, covey, flight, flock, flocks, hail, hive, host, jam, large amount, legion, lots, many, masses of, mob, muchness, multitude, nest, numbers, pack, plurality, quantities, quite a few, rout, ruck, shoal, swarm, throng, tidy sum, worlds of.

scores | English | Dictionary & Translation by Babylon

scores
n. large number, many, several

score
v. gain, obtain; earn a point (in a game, etc.); record points, tally; grade a test; cut, make a notch

n. record of points in a game; act of earning a point; group of twenty items; debt, account, bill; sheet music showing the music for all parts and instruments at once; notch, stroke, cut; grade on a test; achievement; grudge