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knacker (v)

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/11/jeanette-winterson-can-you-stop-the-menopause



[context: how Premarin is produced]
When they[mares] give birth their foals are taken away at once and the mares are reinseminated as soon as possible to begin another 11-month cycle. When their bodies break down, the mares are shot and knackered into the horsemeat market.
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Collins, for 'knacker' the verb, says 'tire.' But that does not fit here; some other meaning tied to the meaning of the noun, knacker*, appears to be involved. Can anyone help?

ADDED for clarification: So what is a reasonably synonymous phrase that could be substituted into the quotation of the OP, for "knackered into"?

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*one who deals in (collects, transports, etc.) animal carcasses (often, for rendering).
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Knacker [v.] is what knackers [n.] do to horses that are past their sell-by date, BM: they slaughter them and launch the meat out onto the food market.
I think that the "are shot" part is only for information as to knacker encompasses killing a beast. To knacker -> to humanely kill a beast (usually horse or cow) and thereafter use the skin, bones, meat, organs, etc., for various purposes (usually other than human food.)
It's all rather confused, historically. The OED has noun 'knacker', a harness-maker or saddler, from 1574, of unknown origin, possibly related to 'knick-knack'; then it has 'knacker' a horse-slaughterer only from 1812, also of unknown origin, possibly related to the preceding. There is no earlier verb that matches either of those. The verb is known only from 1886, and there are no quotations in the sense "slaughter" after 1936, though the article hasn't been updated, so we can't tell whether the use in the quote is a continuation or a recent re-creation of the sense "slaughter".
there are no quotations in the sense "slaughter" after 1936,
In Animal Farm we have the scene in which a "van arrives to take Boxer to the hospital, however, Benjamin reads its side and learns that Boxer is actually being taken to a knacker, or glue-boiler. Boxer [...] is too weak to kick his way out of the van," Cliff Notes

The knacker would also collect animals that had died or had had to be killed in situ.

The lack of modern references is probably due to the decline of the knackers' trade.
Possibly, "rendered" (in its wider sense.)
So what is a reasonably synonymous phrase that could be substituted into the quotation of the OP, for "knackered into"?
The context is overtly critical of the process, and the 'into' is 'into the horsemeat market'.
What about, simply, butchered?
When their bodies break down, the mares are shot and butchered into the horsemeat market.
I think the use of "into" in the original added to the stiltedness of the sentence. Would one not normally say either just 'knackered', or 'knackered for the horsemeat market'?
I'm not British, but my impression is that the Guardian's writing quality is good. They have won prizes in journalism, haven't they?

I wonder if other British people find the passage 'stilted.'

I think the use of "into" in the original added to the stiltedness of the sentence. Would one not normally say either just 'knackered', or 'knackered for the horsemeat market'?
Oh dear. My comment wasn't intended as criticism of the entire extract; the journalist; or the writing quality of The Guardian. Yes, the newspaper is. figuratively, a broadsheet and its writing is generally well-regarded (even if its proofreading, or apparent lack thereof, led to its "Grauniad" nickname. 👁 Smile :)
) I always enjoy reading it, anyway.

I should probably have been more precise and said that the phrase, rather than the sentence, sounded stilted. Perhaps I stand alone. I hope you'll find out once England starts its day.....
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I thought it was emotive writing - the writer is obviously not in favour of using horse carcasses for food - she would rather they were given a decent burial, I suppose. With a memorial plaque perhaps?
It's emotive, and I suspect she was trying to combine the ideas of premeditated-murder [shot], nasty-Victorian-sounding-treatment-of-animals [knacker] and nasty-capitalist-bastards [horsemeat market] ... not entirely successfully. The mares are turned into horsemeat would have been an unemotive alternative ~ it goes without saying that you have to kill them first👁 Roll Eyes :rolleyes:


(Jeannette Winterson isn't a journalist: she's a novelist.)
I would think an award winning novelist and writer, OBE and all that, could come up with a
a sentence that's graceful and powerful. Indeed she is not your average journalist.

I'm surprised at the criticisms. I agree with ewie's analysis, but he seems to 'spin' in
in a negatively evaluative way.



It's emotive, and I suspect she was trying to combine the ideas of premeditated-murder [shot], nasty-Victorian-sounding-treatment-of-animals [knacker] and nasty-capitalist-bastards [horsemeat market] ... not entirely successfully. The mares are turned into horsemeat would have been an unemotive alternative ~ it goes without saying that you have to kill them first👁 Roll Eyes :rolleyes:


(Jeannette Winterson isn't a journalist: she's a novelist.)
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