"hero"

Garson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Wed Jul 25 02:16:25 UTC 2012


Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> Jane Velez-Mitchell on _Dr. Drew_ (HLN) just now, describing the Aurora
> victims:
>
> "Everyone who survived or who died is a hero!"
>
> It must mean something like "victim we should respect."

Stretching the conventional notion of heroism so that the term "hero"
refers to any individual who dies in violent circumstance can be
traced back several years. There is a parodic and cruel internet meme
called "an hero" that began in 2006. An individual who had committed
suicide was referred to as "an hero":

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/an-hero

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