Why Do We Say...

[crisgal]

When a building collapses, we say it was ' raised to the ground' but that doesn't really make sense, so why do we say it?

[excelsior-1]

Although commonly seen on the web, the phrase “raised to the ground” is almost always a misspelling of “razed to the ground”.
Whilst it is possible for something to be “raised” to the ground, it would, logically, have to be below the surface beforehand. Miners could raise ore to the ground. But when talking about a building or a city the phrase should be “razed to the ground”.
Raze – which sounds the same as raise but is a completely distinct word – is defined by the Compact Oxford Dictionary as follows :
raze (also rase)
• verb, tear down and destroy (a building, town, etc.).

[gness]

Think it's razed Cris....probably where we get razor from. Flatten or level. x

[puternut]

An error in spelling crisgal gives the correct defintion

raze also rase
tr.v. razed also rased, raz·ing also ras·ing, raz·es also ras·es
1. To level to the ground; demolish. See Synonyms at ruin.
2. To scrape or shave off.
3. Archaic To erase.

[slinkycat]

It's actually razed. which means completely destroyed

[Buenchico]

We don't!

We say that it was 'rased' (or 'razed', depending upon your choice of spelling), not 'raised'. It's a different verb completely, derived from the Old French 'raser' (meaning 'to shave close'), which now means 'to completely destroy'.

Chris

[crisgal]

Well i never knew that! Thanks everyone.