consuming

Question

0China is the largest market for trafficked animals used for exotic pets, rare foods, trophies and medicine. The United States is the second largest market in the world.02br02br00As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Special Envoy for Wildlife Trafficking, the former movie star said she is focusing her efforts on public awareness of the problem, which she hopes will reduce awareness.02br02br00"It was very embarrassing for me to find out that the U.S. is number 2 in 01b00consuming02b00 endangered 05000," she said. "I travel often, and so many times someone will tell you 'you can buy this, it's made of tortoiseshell, but it's a safe tortoiseshell. It's not endangered.' I think education and awareness is critical."02br02br00What would be a good substitue for 'consuming'? Does is sound natural to your ear, by the way? I understand consume can mean purchase or use but using it before animals makes me associate it with 'eat'.02br02br00Thanks.0230hrefhttp://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/wildlifecwildlife

Marius Hancu · Accepted Answer

0>makes me associate it with 'eat'02br
00that's what it is 0-

Tanit · Answer

1blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10"It was very embarrassing for me to find out that the U.S. is number 2 in 11b10consuming12b10 endangered 15110," she said. "I travel often, and so many times someone will tell you '11u10you can buy this, it's made of tortoiseshell12u10, but it's a safe tortoiseshell. It's not endangered.' I think education and awareness is critical."12br
10What would be a good substitue for 'consuming'? Does is sound natural to your ear, by the way? I understand consume can mean purchase or use but using it before animals makes me associate it with 'eat'.12br
12blockquote

10I think "consume" here is more than just "eat". I'd go for definition no 5 from M-W (05200): 00"01i00to utilize as a customer 00<01i00consume02i00 goods and services>02i00"02br
00It seems to me that "01i00you can buy this, it's made of tortoiseshell02i00" supports this interpretation (you cannot eat something like that, can you? 05000)010id4231hrefhttp://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/wildlifecwildlife242hrefhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consumechere

New2grammar · Answer

0Tanit, that's my interpretation too. What would be a good substitute by the way?0-

Marius Hancu · Answer

0 OK, right, in that context, it's more than 01i00ea02i00t ...0-

consuming

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬