Both are OK, but "become" is more formal. It also sounds a bit more gradual.

You can go blind but you can't go extinct. Become is the right word here.

"Go" works fine for me, it's just less formal. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4G...

Mike, my first impulse was to write sth. along the same lines, but a giggle search of "go extinct" brings over 300,000 hits.

@ myki:
As I have said before: Google hits are not a certificate for quality, they only show that a lot of people have the wrong idea.

#5 I think Google can give you an idea of how words are used. The hits in my link are 30 mentions in the Guardian, for example.
I've also checked with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary, which lists both "become extinct" and "go extinct". To me, apart from "become" being more scientific and formal, "go" also sounds faster and "become" more gradual.

I agree Mike, but at least then he/she's not wrong alone *gg*

The New York Times supports the use of "go extinct" as well. See http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch?qu...

@ CM2DD:
If you become extinct it is a gradual process and whatever you do you cannot go fast. If anybody uses the word "go" they really haven't learned their English properly.

@ Mike: I'm sure you don't intend to sound so aggressive, so I'll refrain from any further comment.

My initial reaction was the same as Mike's. Having googled and seen some of the authoritative sources, I refrained from declaring "go extinct" to be wrong. On the other hand, I would never use it (as it still sounds wrong to me).

I'm not all that fond of it myself, but it is in widespread use by people who can at least be expected to write fairly proper English.

#9: If you kill the last animal of a kind, the extinction process can "go" very quickly. In fractions of a second actually...

@CM2DD
Sorry but I'm always a bit direct, says my wife.
@SelkiWho are these people who can supposedly write fairly proper English? I am quite sure they are not educated English people.
tade

Mike: Some are the educated people who work for the New York Times from where ever they may hail. But I can tell you are intrenched in your position, so I will let it go.

Speaking of proper English, however, what on earth is "tade" supposed to mean.

That was a piece of text which got lost!!!

ah. I will change intrenched to entrenched in the interest of proper English speakers everywhere.

Who are these people who can supposedly write fairly proper English?
The Oxford Collocations Dictionary is based on the British National Corpus and edited by Diana Lea, the principal editor of ELT Dictionaries at Oxford University Press.
Other sources are the Guardian, the Times, the Telegraph, the British Natural History Museum, English university webpages, the World Wildlife Fund, etc.

I also suggested that the asker use "become", and would prefer it myself in most contexts. If I heard someone say "go extinct", however, it would not sound to me like a mistake, it would sound like a native speaker speaking less formally. I guess it is just part of my idiolect, but not yours, Mike. Feel free to come to your own conclusions about my education as a result, but don't forget that Internet forums can make "direct" throwaway comments appear no more than rude.

@ CM2DD
I contacted Diana Lea and here is her answer:

Hi Michael,

That's fine. I always use 'become extinct' myself. You may be right about 'go extinct', but that is how language changes. As lexicographers we aim to describe the language as it is spoken and written, and we cannot ignore a usage that accounts for one third of the possible citations (including some perfectly respectable scientific journals, although I notice that quite a number of the science citations are from transcripts of popular science broadcasts, particularly American and Australian ones).

Best wishes

Diana Lea

I think that sums it up quite well, don't you?

@Selkie#17: AFAIK, both intrench and entrench are OK.

supported by: http://www.onelook.com/?w=intrench&ls=a

Das alte Problem. Nativespeaker, ganz gleich, ob in Richtung Deutsch oder Englisch, sind sehr hilfreich, aber auch nicht hundertprozentig die Lösung. Weil, Sprache ist nur allzuoft Gefühlssache.