gnomicide

“At 4 a.m. they came back. I looked out the door, and they were struggling with the gnome which was tangled in its own wiring. They dashed it to the ground!” Plainly there was some boorish hoodlumism by youths old enough to know better. Then the lady who had charged one of several youths with gnomicide conceded, unfortunately for her: “I didn’t see the face of the man who did the damage — but the police must know. He came from the party anyway.”

1949 December 2, Tom Jarvis, “Busted, Stolen Gnome No Longer Lights Home”, in The Vancouver Sun, volume LXIV, number 52, Vancouver, B.C., page 47

In recent years it has been shown that the non-U value of a gnome can be increased by cavity filling. […] The following badmixtures shall not be used. […] (b) Crocodileite (green asbestos), which can lead to gnomicide.

1982, Bulletin, Association for Preservation Technology, page 43

Gnomicide in the rockery / Garden gnomes have sold in their millions over the years but, as EMMA WALKER reports, their days are numbered […] Richard Sewell, of Peter Barratt’s Garden Centre, in Gosforth, Newcastle, confirmed: “Gnomes would appear to have gone out of fashion.[…]”

1994 July 5, Family Life (Evening Chronicle), page 10

Adam and Eve seem not have worried about what to put at the bottom of the garden but since the renaissance it has been a real worry, now often answered with a gnome fishing in a tiny pond. Plumptre, and his co-authors, would commit gnomicide if they saw such a thing.

1998 September 12, Desmond Christy, “Non-fiction”, in The Guardian, section “Saturday review”, page 11

The Aussie gnome eliminators have finally gained access to the net in order to show the rest of us their campaign successes. Their site features a veritable cornucopia of photographs and stories from the front lines of neighbourhoods from around the world. Among the casualties of this brutal Gnomicide are Snow White and her Seven Dwarves.

2001 January 25, Adam Rozenhart, “Site Unseen”, in The Gateway, volume XC, number 30, page 26