Why do they say “near collapse”?
Mrs. Bill has been falling down without control and multiply for what, 10 years? not to mention her freeze-ups and tremors. Now we know at last that it is all the result of an inconsequential bout with pneumonia last Friday.
Her face didn’t actually hit the pavement this time. That makes it “near” collapse. If anyone else gets woozy in public it is a “collapse.”