Drowning

I watched the David Blaine: Drowned Alive special and have since been pondering the phrase “drowned alive”

To drown one must be alive and in need of oxygen. You cannot drown if you are dead, so you would drown alive.

And to be drowned is the past tense of drown, in which case you would be dead. So it is impossible to be drowned and be alive, unless you are almost drowned. And David Blaine did not almost drown.

Drowned can also mean to be completely submerged in water, but that is no great feat. I can completely submerge myself in water if only for a moment and be drowned alive.

Also, the title is close to what he titled a stunt back in 1999 called Buried Alive, which was never really a creative title.

His other stunt titles could also be scrutinized: Vertigo, Frozen in Time and Above and Below.

Deconstruction is fun.