"rice is injured": is "injured" used properly here?

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NewHopeR

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And is "was gone" the euphemism of "was rotted"?

Context:

2. He did not eat rice which had been injured by heat or damp and turned sour, nor fish or flesh which was gone. He did not eat what was discolored, or what was of a bad flavor, nor anything which was ill-cooked, or was not in season.
3. He did not eat meat which was not cut properly, nor what was served without its proper sauce.

More:

The Analects :: Book 10 (cont.)
 
No, it's not the correct use.

You would use rotten or spoilt.

In that context, I would assume that "was gone" is a euphemism for "was rotten".
 
And is "was gone" the euphemism of "was rotted"?

Context:

2. He did not eat rice which had been injured by heat or damp and turned sour, nor fish or flesh which was gone. He did not eat what was discolored, or what was of a bad flavor, nor anything which was ill-cooked, or was not in season.
3. He did not eat meat which was not cut properly, nor what was served without its proper sauce.

More:

The Analects :: Book 10 (cont.)
You can say "He didn't eat meat or fish that had gone off." "To go off" means "to rot". Or, you can simply say, "This milk's off."
 
Thank you guys.

The translator, however, was James Legge (see below). So I wonder whether the use of "injure" is old-fashioned but not incorrect.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia







James Legge

Missionary to China
BornDecember 20, 1815 (1815-12-20)
Huntly, Scotland
DiedNovember 29, 1897 (1897-11-30)
Oxford, England
ReligionCongregationalist
James Legge (/lɛɡ/; Chinese: 理雅各; December 20, 1815 – November 29, 1897) was a noted Scottish sinologist, a Scottish Congregationalist, representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong (1840–1873), and first professor of Chinese at Oxford University (1876–1897). In association with Max Müller he prepared the monumental Sacred Books of the East series, published in 50 volumes between 1879 and 1891.
 
It may have been fine in the nineteenth century, but it sounds very strange today, so much so that incorrect is probably the correct term today.
 
:up: And as that Wikipedia piece calls him 'a noted sinologist' and 'a missionary' he presumably spent a significant time living in China or Hong Kong. So maybe 'injured' is a false friend; I wonder if the Chinese for 'damaged - of food' is a synonym of 'injured':-?

b

PS After only 3 months living in Spain in 1971 I came home calling a chemist shop a 'pharmacy'. Native speakers after living abroad do make slips like this.
 
Last edited:
Afterthought: A word that is used, when appropriate, for food is 'bruised'.

b
 
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