"Won" interchangeable with "beat"?
Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 5:22 pm
Hello there. ^_^
I had always thought that "won" shouldn't be used so liberally to replace the word "beat" where triumph over a certain thing is concerned, for example, in such a sentence:
"We just ____ them 10-5 in the football match!"
(where either "won" or "beat" fills up the blank)
People here often use the word "won" in such circumstances, but it never really made sense to me grammatically because it makes it sound like the opponents were the prize. After all, many Singaporeans often misuse words. However, doubts that this view is incorrect surfaced after the phrase "came back from a sloppy 1st quarter start and won TJC with a score of 104-58" appeared in the Latest News column of the official website for Victoria Junior College (a high-ranking institution, by the way).
So, my question is if the word "won" can be used in the mentioned circumstance.
I had always thought that "won" shouldn't be used so liberally to replace the word "beat" where triumph over a certain thing is concerned, for example, in such a sentence:
"We just ____ them 10-5 in the football match!"
(where either "won" or "beat" fills up the blank)
People here often use the word "won" in such circumstances, but it never really made sense to me grammatically because it makes it sound like the opponents were the prize. After all, many Singaporeans often misuse words. However, doubts that this view is incorrect surfaced after the phrase "came back from a sloppy 1st quarter start and won TJC with a score of 104-58" appeared in the Latest News column of the official website for Victoria Junior College (a high-ranking institution, by the way).
So, my question is if the word "won" can be used in the mentioned circumstance.