Can you depart someone or do you have to depart from someone?

[Jamber]

Hi BWFoster78,
If had to choose one of yours I'd go with 'departed from' (though to me it somehow sounds a little impersonal -- we tend to depart from a place more than a person).

Whatever the case, I can't help feeling the word 'departed' is a little bland. All it tells us is that one character left another; it says nothing about his manner or mood. Is there a more descriptive verb you could use? Obviously it would depend on context, but 'stalked off', 'swivelled' if he isn't going far, 'hunched away' if moody, are examples of the sorts of ideas I mean.

Sorry if this is going into wordiness. By all means write the way you like best, these are just my thoughts.

regards,
Jennie

 

[advait98]

guessing the context of the phrase, I'd go for 'departing from'.

 

[wordwalker]

But, is it okay to say "(Person) departed (place)"? --since I think we've been talking about "Xan" as a person someone leaves.

 

[Jamber]

Yes: 'John departed Hobart for Sydney on September 18th'. Works for me.

 

[advait98]

guessing the context of the phrase, I'd go for 'departing from'.

Edit: making an educated guess about the context of the phrase from your earlier posts about your story, I'd go for 'departing from'.

 

[Anders Ämting]

To me, "departing someone" sounds like slang for assassination. Kinda like how you might "disappear" someone.

"Tony, bring your gun. The Don has requested we depart Fat Eddie."

 

[wordwalker]

To me, "departing someone" sounds like slang for assassination. Kinda like how you might "disappear" someone.

"Tony, bring your gun. The Don has requested we depart Fat Eddie."

Agreed.

Joking aside, I'm not sure if I've ever heard "Depart (a person)" actually used, and the more readers who've had the same (lack of) experience, the more times the line would fail whether it's grammatical or not. And distractions don't have to be fair, it's the unfairness that makes them hurt the writing.

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Joking aside, I'm not sure if I've ever heard "Depart (a person)" actually used, and the more readers who've had the same (lack of) experience, the more times the line would fail whether it's grammatical or not.

I'm another one who can't recall hearing "Depart (a person)" used. It always seems to be used in reference to a place ("Departed from Sydney") or a mode of transportation ("We departed on the train"). The exception is occasionally you hear "Depart this life" which I guess isn't a place, person or mode of transportation.