Assassination euphemisms

[Paul]

  Somehow the phrase, "Terminate with extreme prejudice." just seems a
little too cute to have been originated in the field.  I'd put money on
it being picked up from, a novel or film.  When asked what to do with a
prisoner why not reply "terminate him"  or did the 'extreme prejudice"
mean  torture or a painful death?

PAUL JOHNSON



On 7/14/2010 9:11 AM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard wrote:
> I remember reading about an incident during the Vietnam War.  American soldiers were in a helicopter with a captured Viet Cong and radioed to the ground asking what to do with him.  The reply: "Terminate with extreme prejudice."
>
> Gerald Cohen
>
> ________________________________
>
> Message from Jerome Foster, Tue 7/13/2010 11:15 PM:
>
> "TERMINATE WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE" WAS SUPPOSEDLY USED BY CIA OR GREEN
> BERETS DURING VIETNAM WAR...
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> <snip>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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