# OK more language fun: "Rapine and pillaging" vs. "Raping and pillaging" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 7, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655 "2026-10-07T22:15:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/1 "2026-10-07T22:15:36Z")
> [@Stupid liberal idea of the day](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-liberal-idea-of-the-day/579086/8210): > > vs calling out theft and rapine. I’ve sometimes seen the idiom said as “Rapine and pillaging”–which from a strictly grammarian standpoint is just atrocious parallelism (or lack thereof), an adjective (?) paired with a gerund. Shouldn’t it be “raping and pillaging” instead, which is usually how I’ve seen it 95% of the time? Is “rapine” even a word? Yeah, the online dictionaries have it, and it does seem to mean to loot, but the part of speech is a noun, not an adjective (such as other words which end with -ine, like riverine). “Raping” in this context may also mean to loot, may also/instead mean literal rapes (of the native female population). So, which is it? Can _both_ work depending on the intended meaning? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/2 "2026-10-07T22:38:07Z")
I’ve never seen the word rapine and if I did I thought it was a typo. (Is this a whoosh? E and G are not so far away from one another on a keyboard.) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/3 "2026-10-07T23:45:58Z")
“Rapine” is a word, although rather archaic. It can be a noun or a verb. If it’s used as a noun, “rapine and pillaging” is fine grammatically since the gerund “pillaging” is also a noun. However, that said, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard or seen “rapine and pillaging”. I only know “raping and pillaging”. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/4 "2026-10-07T23:47:30Z")
IMO Raping is the specific activity, Rapine is the general phenomenon. A house was destroyed in the sack of the town, but the town was pillaged. > [@markn\_1](#): > > However, that said, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard or seen “rapine and pillaging”. I only know “raping and pillaging”. I’d say more ususal was “rape and pillage”. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/5 "2026-10-08T00:47:24Z")
Rapine and Pillage work better than rapine and pillaging. For the noun ,verb difference. Rapine is often in crossword puzzles. Usually the clue is plunder. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/6 "2026-10-08T01:36:18Z")
I have always heard about the Rape of the Sabine women, for example, but never the Raping of the Sabine Women. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/7 "2026-10-08T05:03:35Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Is this a whoosh? E and G are not so far away from one another on a keyboard. No, it was absolutely the intended word. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/8 "2026-10-08T07:15:37Z")
Shouldn’t it be “Rapine and pillage”? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/9 "2026-10-08T10:17:27Z")
I originally was confused when I first heard about the poem “The Rape of the Lock.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/10 "2026-10-08T12:05:57Z")
Note that the specific phrase “theft and rapine” isn’t something I came up with it. It was a recurring statutory formula in England pertaining to the activities of Border Reivers. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-more-language-fun-rapine-and-pillaging-vs-raping-and-pillaging/1033655/11 "2026-10-08T12:26:22Z")
How about, “Rapine and Pillagine”? Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound.