civilian

[David Bergdahl]

Yesterday on an NPR news report on the recent violence in Lebanon I heard an
unusual [to me] usage of the term "civilian," not as "non-military" but as
"not a gov't official" and today's NY Times has the same usage.  In a page 3
article by Michael Slackman, "Bombs Kill 3 in Lebanon on Eve of Slaying
Anniversary" the third paragraph begins

"It was the first such attack--directed at ordinary civilians, not public
figures--since the end of Lebanon's 15-year civil war in 1990."

My sense is that it's the inverse of the use of "assasinate" inasmuch as one
would use the term assasinate for a "public figure" but not for an "ordinary
civilian"; the military/civilian dichotomy seems to be missing but, then
again, one interpretation of "civilian" is "inappropriate as a target in
wartime" and that meaning is definitely retro!

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