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I'm trying to enrich my English vocabulary and while I was doing so, I've been thinking about the word "Burgle"

When I say "he tried to burgle the house but it didn't go well" does it mean that he broke into the house but got caught so he couldn't steal anything?

Or he couldn't break in?

Laurel
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AngryJohn
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    The meaning could be either. Listen to newscasters for English that is not fancy and not slang, with neutral accents. They don't burgle anything. – Yosef Baskin Mar 18 '22 at 22:55
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    Burgle, like buttle, is a backformation and gets used most in humorous writing. Cf. P.G. Wodehouse. – John Lawler Mar 18 '22 at 22:56
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    Oh, and try to V, as opposed to try V-ing, has a Gricean implicature of failure attached. That's where you're getting that idea from; it's not "burgle". – John Lawler Mar 18 '22 at 23:00
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    Burgle is rarely used in standard English. It implies breaking into some structure, but doesn't imply precisely what was done there. – Hot Licks Mar 18 '22 at 23:01
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    Burgle is frequently used in British English. It doesn't sound humourous or peculiar to my ears, just standard. Example : https://tinyurl.com/2p94pb8s The American use of burglarize always sounds weird to me. – Pete Mar 19 '22 at 02:36
  • Burglarize sounds incredibly formal and perhaps it is more common in writing. Burgle is definitely BE. It focuses on the action of breaking in with the intent to steal. – meepyer Mar 19 '22 at 06:58
  • @Pete Here's Google ngram evidence that 'burgle' (at least in the active voice) isn't that common in written British English, with which opinion I'd certainly agree. RHK Webster's adds the caveat [informal]. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 19 '22 at 12:31

1 Answers1

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Either of your suggestions may apply.

Cambridge, Merriam Webster and Collins dictionaries all agree that to burgle means to enter and steal. Here is Cambridge:

Cambridge
Burgle: to enter a building illegally and steal things

In Britain, burgle has the legal sense of entering with stealing, or with the intent to steal:

Sentencing Council

Burglary:
Burglary is committed when an offender either:
a) as a trespasser enters a building intending to steal, inflict grievous bodily harm or do unlawful damage; or,
b) having entered as a trespasser steals or attempts to steal, or inflicts or attempts to inflict grievous bodily harm.

If he tried to burgle, we may assume that he tried to enter (with intent to steal) but failed, or he entered but failed to steal. In either case, it did not go well for some unstated reason. As examples, we may imagine he tried to enter but failed because he cut his arm on broken window glass, or we may imagine he entered but failed to steal because the building was empty, because there was a fierce guard dog or - as you suggest - because he was caught.

Anton
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    He might also have entered the house, set off the alarm and escaped but hurt himself in the process. "Didn't go well" to me sounds as though something happened to his detriment rather than that he merely failed to gain entry. – BoldBen Mar 19 '22 at 09:08
  • @BoldBen Agreed. So many things unsaid in this sentence. Alexander McCall Smith could have made a chapter of it – Anton Mar 19 '22 at 09:47
  • I see, thank you so much you are very helpful! – AngryJohn Mar 19 '22 at 14:51
  • @Anton Yes, perhaps the No1 Ladies Detection Agency can sort it out for us! – BoldBen Mar 20 '22 at 12:02