"Carcass" of a Document?

Question

Can a document, which is not finished, but has its structural skeleton in place, be called a carcass? As in,

I already have some sort of a carcass of the document you requested.

Dictionary definitions imply a lot of morbid stuff such as dead animals, but one of the meanings is:

an unfinished framework or skeleton, as of a house or ship.

However, a colleague of mine, who is a native speaker of AmE, maintains that a "carcass of a house" implies that the house is demolished, whereas a "skeleton of a house" implies the house is built. And therefore, the usage of carcass to refer to an unfinished document is not proper. To what extent is there truth to this?

Answer 1

This definition of carcass from Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003) offers some support for the (uncredited) definition that you highlight in your question:

4 : the underlying structure or frame of something (as of a piece of furniture)

But for most English speakers, that definition will not come to mind when they hear the phrase "a carcass of the document you requested." Instead, they are likely to gravitate toward this definition (also from the Eleventh Collegiate):

3 : the decaying or worthless remains of a structure {the carcass of an abandoned automobile}

So although you can argue that what you have in mind by carcass is "underlying structure or frame," don't be surprised if most of your readers or hearers apply the "decaying or worthless remains of a structure" meaning. Under the circumstances, skeleton seems to me to be a much better word choice than carcass.

Answer 2

A rough draft is what is generally used. A blueprint can also work sometimes. A carcass is a dead body

Answer 3

I see skeleton used in that way pretty often.

To keep to the animal metaphor, if you contrast the animal meaning of carcass and skeleton, the carcass is the outermost part of the animal, and obeys what the inner parts of the animal is/was, while the skeleton is the innermost part of most of the lengths of the body, being the thing that gives the animal shape.

Moving a litte away from the metaphor, let's think plushies and dolls. Plushies are built outside in; the plush is the carcass and is cut carefully so you'll stuff it and it'll keep shape; though a plush doesn't do anything (it's useless). Also, taxidermy, so yeah, it's plain morbid.

Now, if you want something useful, like a pose-able doll (very useful for artists) or a robot, the skeleton must be built first.

Answer 4

Your colleague is right. We use skeleton in just that sense of an "unfinished framework".

And we do not use carcass that way. Doesn't mean you can't do that. But if you did, it would be novel and for special (e.g. comic, possibly black-comic) effect.

Answer 5

Carcass implies remains, not something unfinished.