done=socially acceptable or fashionable

[ostap77]

"A common-law marriage wasn't done in the past." Is it OK to say this to mean that a common-law marriage was not socially acceptable in the past?

 

[MikeNewYork]

"Wasn't done" means "didn't happen" but it does not necessarily mean that it was socially acceptable.

Why not just say "wasn't socially acceptable in the past"?

 

[Raymott]

"A common-law marriage wasn't done in the past." Is it OK to say this to mean that a common-law marriage was not socially acceptable in the past?

Yes, 'done' can have this meaning. But it's rare by itself. You'd more likely see, "A common-law marriage wasn't the done thing in the past"; "Common-law marriages just weren't done in the past."

 

[emsr2d2]

As Raymott said "... is not the done thing" is the usual style. You might hear "It's just not done" too but context would dictate whether that meant "socially unacceptable" or simply "it doesn't happen".

 

[bhaisahab]

It's factually incorrect. Common-law marriage was very common in the past in peasant communities.

 

[ostap77]

I just wanted to figure out if this definition of 'done' from the Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary is accurate.

"3 : socially acceptable or fashionable Getting a divorce just wasn't done at the time."

As is evidenced above, it's not.

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[Raymott]

As is evidenced above, it's not.

That's a strange inference. I would say that, as evidenced above, it is correct.