injury/damage

[mimi2]

I know that "injury" is good for my choice. But I wonder why not "damage"
Thanks a lot.
"The motorbike was badly smashed up but the rider escaped without any injury/damage."

 

[elroy]

We don't usually refer to people who get hurt or injured as having gotten "damaged." "Damage" usually refers to inanimate things.

 

[bibliolept]

Damage is usable here, but injury is better.

Two options:
"but the rider escaped without injury"
"but the rider escaped unharmed"

 

[JamesM]

When a vehicle and a person are both involved in an incident, we tend to use "damage" to indicate the consequences to the vehicle and "injury" to the living being.

I'm not sure, but I'd say that "injury" is something that can heal of its own accord, while "damage" is not something that heals - "nerve damage", "brain damage", "tissue damage," etc. I think we use "damage" to indicate something that has permanently affected a living body.

"I'm not damaged" is used as a light-hearted way to respond to being knocked down or hit unepectedly. I'm not sure if "damaged" is used in any other context regarding physical injury to a person, though, other than a permanent injury to the organism.

It's a very interesting question. I'm looking forward to what others have to say.

 

[bibliolept]

Neither damage nor injury have a denotation of "will heal or won´t heal", hence the phrase "permanent damage."

 

[padredeocho]

The rider was injured very severly because of the damage to his spinal cord.