'Overhaul', as is commonly understood, is taking things apart and putting them together. It does not imply any half-measure.
The dictionaries have this meaning for overhaul: to dismantle in order to make repairs. As a verb, it is to take apart and then putting them together. Merriam-Webster has this: to repair, to renovate, remake, revise or renew thoroughly.
Those who don't bother about the nuances, overhaul suggests remaking or renewing thoroughly.
So this headline for an editorial (called 'leader' within the newspaper, as does The Economist) in The Hindu looked odd: Inadequate overhaul. But it was not, for what it referred to was inadequate response of the Archaeological Survey of India to the issue of preserving monuments. The paper meant, what was being done was not enough. What was being done was not comprehensive enough.
It is a happy thing that we find something that sounds odd but is actually correct usage.
The dictionaries have this meaning for overhaul: to dismantle in order to make repairs. As a verb, it is to take apart and then putting them together. Merriam-Webster has this: to repair, to renovate, remake, revise or renew thoroughly.
Those who don't bother about the nuances, overhaul suggests remaking or renewing thoroughly.
So this headline for an editorial (called 'leader' within the newspaper, as does The Economist) in The Hindu looked odd: Inadequate overhaul. But it was not, for what it referred to was inadequate response of the Archaeological Survey of India to the issue of preserving monuments. The paper meant, what was being done was not enough. What was being done was not comprehensive enough.
It is a happy thing that we find something that sounds odd but is actually correct usage.
