“Starve to death” Vs. “Starve to the point of death”“Make a point to” or “make a point...

How to deal with possible delayed baggage?

Regex Replace seems to replace only first occurrence

Am I correct in stating that the study of topology is purely theoretical?

Why is a temp table a more efficient solution to the Halloween Problem than an eager spool?

Subsurf on a crown. How can I smooth some edges and keep others sharp?

How much mayhem could I cause as a fish?

How can I play a serial killer in a party of good PCs?

Buying a "Used" Router

How do you get out of your own psychology to write characters?

Why did Luke use his left hand to shoot?

The No-Straight Maze

Critique vs nitpicking

How do you funnel food off a cutting board?

How can the probability of a fumble decrease linearly with more dice?

Prioritising polygons in QGIS

Equivalent of "illegal" for violating civil law

Why do neural networks need so many training examples to perform?

What can I do to encourage my players to use their consumables?

Why is it that Bernie Sanders is always called a "socialist"?

Difference in casting float to int, 32-bit C

Why avoid shared user accounts?

Cat is tipping over bed-side lamps during the night

How do I prevent a homebrew Grappling Hook feature from trivializing Tomb of Annihilation?

Is there any danger of my neighbor having my wife's signature?



“Starve to death” Vs. “Starve to the point of death”


“Make a point to” or “make a point of”?Deadly Diamond of DeathStative verbs in the progressiveWhat is the meaning of “You no understand”?What does the “point of reference” mean?Make a point about somethingWhat does “vehicle of death” mean?What does “teases death” mean?what's the point of this short story?What does the high point mean













12















About a year ago, I had an on-line friend, a native speaker, chatting with me. When I sent a message to him saying:




I'm starving to the point of death.




He rephrased that as:




I'm starving to death.




But now that I think about it, and googled it, my expression wasn't wrong and they use it a lot. So I was wondering why he had to correct the sentence. Is it not a colloquial language? Or does it have slightly differences in meaning?










share|improve this question





























    12















    About a year ago, I had an on-line friend, a native speaker, chatting with me. When I sent a message to him saying:




    I'm starving to the point of death.




    He rephrased that as:




    I'm starving to death.




    But now that I think about it, and googled it, my expression wasn't wrong and they use it a lot. So I was wondering why he had to correct the sentence. Is it not a colloquial language? Or does it have slightly differences in meaning?










    share|improve this question



























      12












      12








      12


      1






      About a year ago, I had an on-line friend, a native speaker, chatting with me. When I sent a message to him saying:




      I'm starving to the point of death.




      He rephrased that as:




      I'm starving to death.




      But now that I think about it, and googled it, my expression wasn't wrong and they use it a lot. So I was wondering why he had to correct the sentence. Is it not a colloquial language? Or does it have slightly differences in meaning?










      share|improve this question
















      About a year ago, I had an on-line friend, a native speaker, chatting with me. When I sent a message to him saying:




      I'm starving to the point of death.




      He rephrased that as:




      I'm starving to death.




      But now that I think about it, and googled it, my expression wasn't wrong and they use it a lot. So I was wondering why he had to correct the sentence. Is it not a colloquial language? Or does it have slightly differences in meaning?







      meaning






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited yesterday









      Lucian Sava

      9,038113073




      9,038113073










      asked yesterday









      dolcodolco

      602310




      602310






















          4 Answers
          4






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          20














          If someone starves to death, they are dead.



          If someone starves to the point of death, they are on the cusp of dying due to starvation, but have not yet done so. If they do not get food immediately, they will die. Your friend was using it as hyperbole, or dramatic overstatement.



          Of course, if someone really were starving to the point of death, they would be unconscious and couldn't eat, and would need intravenous nutrition.



          This is not to be confused with at the point of death, which means "at the moment that death occurred". It is particularly used for legal stuff related to what happens after someone dies, but is used in other contexts as well.






          share|improve this answer



















          • 28





            I might add that while I'm starving or I'm starving to death is extremely common hyperbole in casual conversation, I'm starving to the point of death is unusual and somewhat unnatural even though it is perfectly grammatical and would have essentially the same meaning.

            – choster
            yesterday








          • 5





            People say "I'm freezing to death" when they are feeling slightly cold.

            – Michael Harvey
            yesterday











          • Very true @choster, but the other "I'm starving" constructions are hyperbole that is so common that I don't even think of it as such - they're figures of speech. To the point of death goes into definite excessive hyperbole, but people do do that sometimes.

            – SamBC
            yesterday






          • 4





            Even taken literally, "starving to death" means you're in middle of a process that will eventually lead to death, you haven't "starved to death" yet.

            – Barmar
            15 hours ago











          • @Barmar: True. While "starving to the point of death" suggests imminently reaching that point, unless other context suggests otherwise.

            – SamBC
            15 hours ago



















          34














          The idiomatic phrase is "starving to death", which is a massively exaggerated way of saying "I'm hungry". "Starving to the point of death" isn't wrong; it's just not what people normally say.



          If you were speaking literally, "I'm starving to death" would mean that you had been without food for so long that you were going to die of hunger and you expected that to happen. "I'm starving to the point of death" would suggest that you somehow knew that you would almost starve to death but be rescued at the last moment. That's an unusually precise prediction! In reality, I assume you were just using hyperbole and, in that case, the idiomatic "I'm starving to death" is the phrase to use. If you're going to exaggerate for effect, exaggerate as much as possible!






          share|improve this answer



















          • 4





            Likewise, a common hyperbole from the other direction is "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse".

            – jamesqf
            yesterday



















          2














          In this case, hyperbole has hijacked the issue. Nonetheless, one of your statements is wildly improbable, as I will discuss.



          Other answers have dealt with "I'm starving to death", at least as far as first person goes. The phrase is so widely used simply to mean "very hungry", that this is the default usage. However, a more realistic use might be along the lines of, "I'm trapped on a desert island with no food and no rescue in sight, and I'm starving to death." Although, as you might imagine, this is not what most would consider a very "realistic" scenario.



          "To the point of death" is a rather different case. It would be used when the most likely outcome of the current situation is that the individual will die shortly. For a person to be so close to death from starvation, unconsciousness would be extremely likely, so "I'm starving to the point of death" would be (if accurate) an unlikely statement.






          share|improve this answer































            2














            I agree with the top answer to some extent, but it only addresses the past tense:





            • Steve starved to death: This means Steve died, and the cause of death was starvation.


            • Steve starved to the point of death: This means that Steve starved so much that he was about to die. He may have then gone on to die, or survived after all, depending on whether he immediately obtained food at that point (but it is heavily implied that he survived by the fact that you did not simply say "starved to death").


            You question was about the present it misses that your question is about the present participle ("starving"):





            • Steve is starving to death: This means that Steve has not yet starved to death, but he is on the way there. In other words, he is before the point of death. This is like the difference between "Steve is playing cricket" vs "Steve played cricket".


            • Steve is starving to the point of death: Steve has not yet starved to the point of death, but he is on his way they.


            Now it is hopefully clear that "I am starving to the point of death" is an odd construction. It is like saying "Steve is walking towards the edge of London (from the outside)". Sure, it may be true, but why not just say "Steve is walking towards London"? It is simpler, and neither of them say where you will stop.



            It is still hyperbole to say that you're "starving to death", but not because it's claiming that you have already died. Instead, it is because the fact that you mention death (or starvation) implies that it is a genuine concern, when it presumably is not. To say that you're "starving to the point of death" is exactly the same degree of hyperbole but more awkwardly phrased.






            share|improve this answer








            New contributor




            Arthur Tacca is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.





















            • Does the same go for "Thirsty to death Vs. Thirsty to the point of death"?

              – dolco
              1 hour ago











            • @dolco No, "starving" is not an adjective like "thirsty".

              – Mr Lister
              30 mins ago











            Your Answer








            StackExchange.ready(function() {
            var channelOptions = {
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "481"
            };
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
            createEditor();
            });
            }
            else {
            createEditor();
            }
            });

            function createEditor() {
            StackExchange.prepareEditor({
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: false,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: null,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader: {
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            },
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            });


            }
            });














            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f198128%2fstarve-to-death-vs-starve-to-the-point-of-death%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            4 Answers
            4






            active

            oldest

            votes








            4 Answers
            4






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            20














            If someone starves to death, they are dead.



            If someone starves to the point of death, they are on the cusp of dying due to starvation, but have not yet done so. If they do not get food immediately, they will die. Your friend was using it as hyperbole, or dramatic overstatement.



            Of course, if someone really were starving to the point of death, they would be unconscious and couldn't eat, and would need intravenous nutrition.



            This is not to be confused with at the point of death, which means "at the moment that death occurred". It is particularly used for legal stuff related to what happens after someone dies, but is used in other contexts as well.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 28





              I might add that while I'm starving or I'm starving to death is extremely common hyperbole in casual conversation, I'm starving to the point of death is unusual and somewhat unnatural even though it is perfectly grammatical and would have essentially the same meaning.

              – choster
              yesterday








            • 5





              People say "I'm freezing to death" when they are feeling slightly cold.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday











            • Very true @choster, but the other "I'm starving" constructions are hyperbole that is so common that I don't even think of it as such - they're figures of speech. To the point of death goes into definite excessive hyperbole, but people do do that sometimes.

              – SamBC
              yesterday






            • 4





              Even taken literally, "starving to death" means you're in middle of a process that will eventually lead to death, you haven't "starved to death" yet.

              – Barmar
              15 hours ago











            • @Barmar: True. While "starving to the point of death" suggests imminently reaching that point, unless other context suggests otherwise.

              – SamBC
              15 hours ago
















            20














            If someone starves to death, they are dead.



            If someone starves to the point of death, they are on the cusp of dying due to starvation, but have not yet done so. If they do not get food immediately, they will die. Your friend was using it as hyperbole, or dramatic overstatement.



            Of course, if someone really were starving to the point of death, they would be unconscious and couldn't eat, and would need intravenous nutrition.



            This is not to be confused with at the point of death, which means "at the moment that death occurred". It is particularly used for legal stuff related to what happens after someone dies, but is used in other contexts as well.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 28





              I might add that while I'm starving or I'm starving to death is extremely common hyperbole in casual conversation, I'm starving to the point of death is unusual and somewhat unnatural even though it is perfectly grammatical and would have essentially the same meaning.

              – choster
              yesterday








            • 5





              People say "I'm freezing to death" when they are feeling slightly cold.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday











            • Very true @choster, but the other "I'm starving" constructions are hyperbole that is so common that I don't even think of it as such - they're figures of speech. To the point of death goes into definite excessive hyperbole, but people do do that sometimes.

              – SamBC
              yesterday






            • 4





              Even taken literally, "starving to death" means you're in middle of a process that will eventually lead to death, you haven't "starved to death" yet.

              – Barmar
              15 hours ago











            • @Barmar: True. While "starving to the point of death" suggests imminently reaching that point, unless other context suggests otherwise.

              – SamBC
              15 hours ago














            20












            20








            20







            If someone starves to death, they are dead.



            If someone starves to the point of death, they are on the cusp of dying due to starvation, but have not yet done so. If they do not get food immediately, they will die. Your friend was using it as hyperbole, or dramatic overstatement.



            Of course, if someone really were starving to the point of death, they would be unconscious and couldn't eat, and would need intravenous nutrition.



            This is not to be confused with at the point of death, which means "at the moment that death occurred". It is particularly used for legal stuff related to what happens after someone dies, but is used in other contexts as well.






            share|improve this answer













            If someone starves to death, they are dead.



            If someone starves to the point of death, they are on the cusp of dying due to starvation, but have not yet done so. If they do not get food immediately, they will die. Your friend was using it as hyperbole, or dramatic overstatement.



            Of course, if someone really were starving to the point of death, they would be unconscious and couldn't eat, and would need intravenous nutrition.



            This is not to be confused with at the point of death, which means "at the moment that death occurred". It is particularly used for legal stuff related to what happens after someone dies, but is used in other contexts as well.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered yesterday









            SamBCSamBC

            6,841729




            6,841729








            • 28





              I might add that while I'm starving or I'm starving to death is extremely common hyperbole in casual conversation, I'm starving to the point of death is unusual and somewhat unnatural even though it is perfectly grammatical and would have essentially the same meaning.

              – choster
              yesterday








            • 5





              People say "I'm freezing to death" when they are feeling slightly cold.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday











            • Very true @choster, but the other "I'm starving" constructions are hyperbole that is so common that I don't even think of it as such - they're figures of speech. To the point of death goes into definite excessive hyperbole, but people do do that sometimes.

              – SamBC
              yesterday






            • 4





              Even taken literally, "starving to death" means you're in middle of a process that will eventually lead to death, you haven't "starved to death" yet.

              – Barmar
              15 hours ago











            • @Barmar: True. While "starving to the point of death" suggests imminently reaching that point, unless other context suggests otherwise.

              – SamBC
              15 hours ago














            • 28





              I might add that while I'm starving or I'm starving to death is extremely common hyperbole in casual conversation, I'm starving to the point of death is unusual and somewhat unnatural even though it is perfectly grammatical and would have essentially the same meaning.

              – choster
              yesterday








            • 5





              People say "I'm freezing to death" when they are feeling slightly cold.

              – Michael Harvey
              yesterday











            • Very true @choster, but the other "I'm starving" constructions are hyperbole that is so common that I don't even think of it as such - they're figures of speech. To the point of death goes into definite excessive hyperbole, but people do do that sometimes.

              – SamBC
              yesterday






            • 4





              Even taken literally, "starving to death" means you're in middle of a process that will eventually lead to death, you haven't "starved to death" yet.

              – Barmar
              15 hours ago











            • @Barmar: True. While "starving to the point of death" suggests imminently reaching that point, unless other context suggests otherwise.

              – SamBC
              15 hours ago








            28




            28





            I might add that while I'm starving or I'm starving to death is extremely common hyperbole in casual conversation, I'm starving to the point of death is unusual and somewhat unnatural even though it is perfectly grammatical and would have essentially the same meaning.

            – choster
            yesterday







            I might add that while I'm starving or I'm starving to death is extremely common hyperbole in casual conversation, I'm starving to the point of death is unusual and somewhat unnatural even though it is perfectly grammatical and would have essentially the same meaning.

            – choster
            yesterday






            5




            5





            People say "I'm freezing to death" when they are feeling slightly cold.

            – Michael Harvey
            yesterday





            People say "I'm freezing to death" when they are feeling slightly cold.

            – Michael Harvey
            yesterday













            Very true @choster, but the other "I'm starving" constructions are hyperbole that is so common that I don't even think of it as such - they're figures of speech. To the point of death goes into definite excessive hyperbole, but people do do that sometimes.

            – SamBC
            yesterday





            Very true @choster, but the other "I'm starving" constructions are hyperbole that is so common that I don't even think of it as such - they're figures of speech. To the point of death goes into definite excessive hyperbole, but people do do that sometimes.

            – SamBC
            yesterday




            4




            4





            Even taken literally, "starving to death" means you're in middle of a process that will eventually lead to death, you haven't "starved to death" yet.

            – Barmar
            15 hours ago





            Even taken literally, "starving to death" means you're in middle of a process that will eventually lead to death, you haven't "starved to death" yet.

            – Barmar
            15 hours ago













            @Barmar: True. While "starving to the point of death" suggests imminently reaching that point, unless other context suggests otherwise.

            – SamBC
            15 hours ago





            @Barmar: True. While "starving to the point of death" suggests imminently reaching that point, unless other context suggests otherwise.

            – SamBC
            15 hours ago













            34














            The idiomatic phrase is "starving to death", which is a massively exaggerated way of saying "I'm hungry". "Starving to the point of death" isn't wrong; it's just not what people normally say.



            If you were speaking literally, "I'm starving to death" would mean that you had been without food for so long that you were going to die of hunger and you expected that to happen. "I'm starving to the point of death" would suggest that you somehow knew that you would almost starve to death but be rescued at the last moment. That's an unusually precise prediction! In reality, I assume you were just using hyperbole and, in that case, the idiomatic "I'm starving to death" is the phrase to use. If you're going to exaggerate for effect, exaggerate as much as possible!






            share|improve this answer



















            • 4





              Likewise, a common hyperbole from the other direction is "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse".

              – jamesqf
              yesterday
















            34














            The idiomatic phrase is "starving to death", which is a massively exaggerated way of saying "I'm hungry". "Starving to the point of death" isn't wrong; it's just not what people normally say.



            If you were speaking literally, "I'm starving to death" would mean that you had been without food for so long that you were going to die of hunger and you expected that to happen. "I'm starving to the point of death" would suggest that you somehow knew that you would almost starve to death but be rescued at the last moment. That's an unusually precise prediction! In reality, I assume you were just using hyperbole and, in that case, the idiomatic "I'm starving to death" is the phrase to use. If you're going to exaggerate for effect, exaggerate as much as possible!






            share|improve this answer



















            • 4





              Likewise, a common hyperbole from the other direction is "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse".

              – jamesqf
              yesterday














            34












            34








            34







            The idiomatic phrase is "starving to death", which is a massively exaggerated way of saying "I'm hungry". "Starving to the point of death" isn't wrong; it's just not what people normally say.



            If you were speaking literally, "I'm starving to death" would mean that you had been without food for so long that you were going to die of hunger and you expected that to happen. "I'm starving to the point of death" would suggest that you somehow knew that you would almost starve to death but be rescued at the last moment. That's an unusually precise prediction! In reality, I assume you were just using hyperbole and, in that case, the idiomatic "I'm starving to death" is the phrase to use. If you're going to exaggerate for effect, exaggerate as much as possible!






            share|improve this answer













            The idiomatic phrase is "starving to death", which is a massively exaggerated way of saying "I'm hungry". "Starving to the point of death" isn't wrong; it's just not what people normally say.



            If you were speaking literally, "I'm starving to death" would mean that you had been without food for so long that you were going to die of hunger and you expected that to happen. "I'm starving to the point of death" would suggest that you somehow knew that you would almost starve to death but be rescued at the last moment. That's an unusually precise prediction! In reality, I assume you were just using hyperbole and, in that case, the idiomatic "I'm starving to death" is the phrase to use. If you're going to exaggerate for effect, exaggerate as much as possible!







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered yesterday









            David RicherbyDavid Richerby

            7,2542042




            7,2542042








            • 4





              Likewise, a common hyperbole from the other direction is "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse".

              – jamesqf
              yesterday














            • 4





              Likewise, a common hyperbole from the other direction is "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse".

              – jamesqf
              yesterday








            4




            4





            Likewise, a common hyperbole from the other direction is "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse".

            – jamesqf
            yesterday





            Likewise, a common hyperbole from the other direction is "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse".

            – jamesqf
            yesterday











            2














            In this case, hyperbole has hijacked the issue. Nonetheless, one of your statements is wildly improbable, as I will discuss.



            Other answers have dealt with "I'm starving to death", at least as far as first person goes. The phrase is so widely used simply to mean "very hungry", that this is the default usage. However, a more realistic use might be along the lines of, "I'm trapped on a desert island with no food and no rescue in sight, and I'm starving to death." Although, as you might imagine, this is not what most would consider a very "realistic" scenario.



            "To the point of death" is a rather different case. It would be used when the most likely outcome of the current situation is that the individual will die shortly. For a person to be so close to death from starvation, unconsciousness would be extremely likely, so "I'm starving to the point of death" would be (if accurate) an unlikely statement.






            share|improve this answer




























              2














              In this case, hyperbole has hijacked the issue. Nonetheless, one of your statements is wildly improbable, as I will discuss.



              Other answers have dealt with "I'm starving to death", at least as far as first person goes. The phrase is so widely used simply to mean "very hungry", that this is the default usage. However, a more realistic use might be along the lines of, "I'm trapped on a desert island with no food and no rescue in sight, and I'm starving to death." Although, as you might imagine, this is not what most would consider a very "realistic" scenario.



              "To the point of death" is a rather different case. It would be used when the most likely outcome of the current situation is that the individual will die shortly. For a person to be so close to death from starvation, unconsciousness would be extremely likely, so "I'm starving to the point of death" would be (if accurate) an unlikely statement.






              share|improve this answer


























                2












                2








                2







                In this case, hyperbole has hijacked the issue. Nonetheless, one of your statements is wildly improbable, as I will discuss.



                Other answers have dealt with "I'm starving to death", at least as far as first person goes. The phrase is so widely used simply to mean "very hungry", that this is the default usage. However, a more realistic use might be along the lines of, "I'm trapped on a desert island with no food and no rescue in sight, and I'm starving to death." Although, as you might imagine, this is not what most would consider a very "realistic" scenario.



                "To the point of death" is a rather different case. It would be used when the most likely outcome of the current situation is that the individual will die shortly. For a person to be so close to death from starvation, unconsciousness would be extremely likely, so "I'm starving to the point of death" would be (if accurate) an unlikely statement.






                share|improve this answer













                In this case, hyperbole has hijacked the issue. Nonetheless, one of your statements is wildly improbable, as I will discuss.



                Other answers have dealt with "I'm starving to death", at least as far as first person goes. The phrase is so widely used simply to mean "very hungry", that this is the default usage. However, a more realistic use might be along the lines of, "I'm trapped on a desert island with no food and no rescue in sight, and I'm starving to death." Although, as you might imagine, this is not what most would consider a very "realistic" scenario.



                "To the point of death" is a rather different case. It would be used when the most likely outcome of the current situation is that the individual will die shortly. For a person to be so close to death from starvation, unconsciousness would be extremely likely, so "I'm starving to the point of death" would be (if accurate) an unlikely statement.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered 18 hours ago









                WhatRoughBeastWhatRoughBeast

                4,038917




                4,038917























                    2














                    I agree with the top answer to some extent, but it only addresses the past tense:





                    • Steve starved to death: This means Steve died, and the cause of death was starvation.


                    • Steve starved to the point of death: This means that Steve starved so much that he was about to die. He may have then gone on to die, or survived after all, depending on whether he immediately obtained food at that point (but it is heavily implied that he survived by the fact that you did not simply say "starved to death").


                    You question was about the present it misses that your question is about the present participle ("starving"):





                    • Steve is starving to death: This means that Steve has not yet starved to death, but he is on the way there. In other words, he is before the point of death. This is like the difference between "Steve is playing cricket" vs "Steve played cricket".


                    • Steve is starving to the point of death: Steve has not yet starved to the point of death, but he is on his way they.


                    Now it is hopefully clear that "I am starving to the point of death" is an odd construction. It is like saying "Steve is walking towards the edge of London (from the outside)". Sure, it may be true, but why not just say "Steve is walking towards London"? It is simpler, and neither of them say where you will stop.



                    It is still hyperbole to say that you're "starving to death", but not because it's claiming that you have already died. Instead, it is because the fact that you mention death (or starvation) implies that it is a genuine concern, when it presumably is not. To say that you're "starving to the point of death" is exactly the same degree of hyperbole but more awkwardly phrased.






                    share|improve this answer








                    New contributor




                    Arthur Tacca is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.





















                    • Does the same go for "Thirsty to death Vs. Thirsty to the point of death"?

                      – dolco
                      1 hour ago











                    • @dolco No, "starving" is not an adjective like "thirsty".

                      – Mr Lister
                      30 mins ago
















                    2














                    I agree with the top answer to some extent, but it only addresses the past tense:





                    • Steve starved to death: This means Steve died, and the cause of death was starvation.


                    • Steve starved to the point of death: This means that Steve starved so much that he was about to die. He may have then gone on to die, or survived after all, depending on whether he immediately obtained food at that point (but it is heavily implied that he survived by the fact that you did not simply say "starved to death").


                    You question was about the present it misses that your question is about the present participle ("starving"):





                    • Steve is starving to death: This means that Steve has not yet starved to death, but he is on the way there. In other words, he is before the point of death. This is like the difference between "Steve is playing cricket" vs "Steve played cricket".


                    • Steve is starving to the point of death: Steve has not yet starved to the point of death, but he is on his way they.


                    Now it is hopefully clear that "I am starving to the point of death" is an odd construction. It is like saying "Steve is walking towards the edge of London (from the outside)". Sure, it may be true, but why not just say "Steve is walking towards London"? It is simpler, and neither of them say where you will stop.



                    It is still hyperbole to say that you're "starving to death", but not because it's claiming that you have already died. Instead, it is because the fact that you mention death (or starvation) implies that it is a genuine concern, when it presumably is not. To say that you're "starving to the point of death" is exactly the same degree of hyperbole but more awkwardly phrased.






                    share|improve this answer








                    New contributor




                    Arthur Tacca is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.





















                    • Does the same go for "Thirsty to death Vs. Thirsty to the point of death"?

                      – dolco
                      1 hour ago











                    • @dolco No, "starving" is not an adjective like "thirsty".

                      – Mr Lister
                      30 mins ago














                    2












                    2








                    2







                    I agree with the top answer to some extent, but it only addresses the past tense:





                    • Steve starved to death: This means Steve died, and the cause of death was starvation.


                    • Steve starved to the point of death: This means that Steve starved so much that he was about to die. He may have then gone on to die, or survived after all, depending on whether he immediately obtained food at that point (but it is heavily implied that he survived by the fact that you did not simply say "starved to death").


                    You question was about the present it misses that your question is about the present participle ("starving"):





                    • Steve is starving to death: This means that Steve has not yet starved to death, but he is on the way there. In other words, he is before the point of death. This is like the difference between "Steve is playing cricket" vs "Steve played cricket".


                    • Steve is starving to the point of death: Steve has not yet starved to the point of death, but he is on his way they.


                    Now it is hopefully clear that "I am starving to the point of death" is an odd construction. It is like saying "Steve is walking towards the edge of London (from the outside)". Sure, it may be true, but why not just say "Steve is walking towards London"? It is simpler, and neither of them say where you will stop.



                    It is still hyperbole to say that you're "starving to death", but not because it's claiming that you have already died. Instead, it is because the fact that you mention death (or starvation) implies that it is a genuine concern, when it presumably is not. To say that you're "starving to the point of death" is exactly the same degree of hyperbole but more awkwardly phrased.






                    share|improve this answer








                    New contributor




                    Arthur Tacca is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.










                    I agree with the top answer to some extent, but it only addresses the past tense:





                    • Steve starved to death: This means Steve died, and the cause of death was starvation.


                    • Steve starved to the point of death: This means that Steve starved so much that he was about to die. He may have then gone on to die, or survived after all, depending on whether he immediately obtained food at that point (but it is heavily implied that he survived by the fact that you did not simply say "starved to death").


                    You question was about the present it misses that your question is about the present participle ("starving"):





                    • Steve is starving to death: This means that Steve has not yet starved to death, but he is on the way there. In other words, he is before the point of death. This is like the difference between "Steve is playing cricket" vs "Steve played cricket".


                    • Steve is starving to the point of death: Steve has not yet starved to the point of death, but he is on his way they.


                    Now it is hopefully clear that "I am starving to the point of death" is an odd construction. It is like saying "Steve is walking towards the edge of London (from the outside)". Sure, it may be true, but why not just say "Steve is walking towards London"? It is simpler, and neither of them say where you will stop.



                    It is still hyperbole to say that you're "starving to death", but not because it's claiming that you have already died. Instead, it is because the fact that you mention death (or starvation) implies that it is a genuine concern, when it presumably is not. To say that you're "starving to the point of death" is exactly the same degree of hyperbole but more awkwardly phrased.







                    share|improve this answer








                    New contributor




                    Arthur Tacca is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.









                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer






                    New contributor




                    Arthur Tacca is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.









                    answered 2 hours ago









                    Arthur TaccaArthur Tacca

                    1212




                    1212




                    New contributor




                    Arthur Tacca is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.





                    New contributor





                    Arthur Tacca is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.






                    Arthur Tacca is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.













                    • Does the same go for "Thirsty to death Vs. Thirsty to the point of death"?

                      – dolco
                      1 hour ago











                    • @dolco No, "starving" is not an adjective like "thirsty".

                      – Mr Lister
                      30 mins ago



















                    • Does the same go for "Thirsty to death Vs. Thirsty to the point of death"?

                      – dolco
                      1 hour ago











                    • @dolco No, "starving" is not an adjective like "thirsty".

                      – Mr Lister
                      30 mins ago

















                    Does the same go for "Thirsty to death Vs. Thirsty to the point of death"?

                    – dolco
                    1 hour ago





                    Does the same go for "Thirsty to death Vs. Thirsty to the point of death"?

                    – dolco
                    1 hour ago













                    @dolco No, "starving" is not an adjective like "thirsty".

                    – Mr Lister
                    30 mins ago





                    @dolco No, "starving" is not an adjective like "thirsty".

                    – Mr Lister
                    30 mins ago


















                    draft saved

                    draft discarded




















































                    Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid



                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function () {
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f198128%2fstarve-to-death-vs-starve-to-the-point-of-death%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                    }
                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    “%fieldName is a required field.”, in Magento2 REST API Call for GET Method Type The Next...

                    How to change City field to a dropdown in Checkout step Magento 2Magento 2 : How to change UI field(s)...

                    變成蝙蝠會怎樣? 參考資料 外部連結 导航菜单Thomas Nagel, "What is it like to be a...