I have a question about the usage of the verb "occur". According to definition 1 of this dictionary, "occur" means for a event to "happen".
But then I saw these usages of "occur" in a couple of NY Times articles:
Article 1:
The aircraft damage occurred even though about half the helicopters were moved inside hangars and the rest tied down as the storm approached, the Army said.Article 2:
Criticism also seems to be the most stressful part of the job for Hubie Brown, the Knicks' coach who was hospitalized for three days last fall after an angina attack. Brown's illness occurred as he was anticipating an unflattering article about himself in Sports Illustrated magazine, and while he does not directly connect the two events he puts ''media pressure'' at the top of his list when itemizing sources of stress.
For the first example, "damage" is a state of being damaged, not an event. So how does "damage" occur?
For the second example, an "illness" is a state of being unwell, not an event. So the phrase "Brown's illness occurred" sounds weird.
What do native speakers think? Are the usages of "occur" in the two examples poor usage?
Best Answer
Actually, nouns that are treated as characteristics or properties can oftentimes take on the secondary role of events. Namely, they can denote the event of someone or something attaining said characteristic or property. I think by looking directly at the examples, we can better understand how the word "occur" is used in context.
The way I see this, it's not the word "occurred" that's lending itself a different meaning, but rather, it's the word "damage" that's taking on an extra role. In this instance, "damage" is being treated as an event that happened, rather than a condition or state that something had. Damage essentially means, "an event where something gets damaged" here.
Once again, the word "illness" is being used to represent the event of becoming ill, rather than the state of being ill.