Assassination euphemisms

Wed Jul 14 23:54:52 UTC 2010

At 3:12 PM -0400 7/14/10, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>1969 Terence Smith in _N.Y. Times_ (Aug. 14) 2: His status as a double agent
>was reportedly confirmed by the Central Intelligence Agency which, according
>to the sources, suggested that he either be isolated or "terminated with
>extreme prejudice." This term is said to be an intelligence euphemism for
>execution.
>
>Just how many people in the CIA might have been familiar with this phrase
>before its appearance in the _Times_ is another interesting question.  While
>"terminate" rings with authenticity as far as I'm concerned, the "extreme
>prejudice" stuff sounds like somebody groping for "extreme" emphasis.
>
>Gratuitous SWAG:  the now-familiar grotesque phrase was created at the time
>of the incident (apparently June 20, 1969) by a single individual and was
>never a general "CIA euphemism."  Its grotesqueness (and the context of its
>appearance in print) guaranteed its survival.
>
>JL

Like "(We had to) destroy the village in order to save it"?

LH

>
>
>On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 2:20 PM, Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
>>  Subject:      Re: Assassination euphemisms
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  ChiBemba, IIRC, has a gender distinction between Class 1/2 nouns that
>>  are largely human nouns and Class 1a/2 nouns that include terms for
>>  people in public office.  I don't know if they have different verbs
>>  for killing members of the two classes.
>>
>>  Herb
>>
>>  On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 9:39 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>
>>  wrote:
>>   > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
>>  > Subject:      Re: Assassination euphemisms
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  >  Drawing the hard line between an assassination and a contract hit is
>>  > something I am not prepared to do, but I probably should have put that
>>  > in as a caveat--the distinction certainly crossed my mind when I put
>>  > together my version of the list (hence the joke in the end).
>>  >
>>  > The problem is that "a contract hit" may well be one of the euphemisms.
>>  > When the target is political or otherwise important, it's an
>>  > assassination. When the target is a bit player--e.g., someone who simply
>>  > offended a gang leader for some reason--it's just a hit. So another
>>  > "euphemism" would be "to take a contract out on" (or same words in a
>>  > different order). Another distinction may be that when a government
>>  > agency or wannabe government group orders or buys the action, it's an
>>  > assassination. When the contract or order is taken out by a criminal
>>  > organization, it is not. But this is a weak distinction--consider, for
>>  > example, some of the murders in the Godfather series, particularly
>>  > Godfather 3. The murder of a high-positioned cleric qualifies as an
>>  > assassination under the first definition above, but not the second,
>>  > because it depends on who ordered it. For example, the poisoning of a
>>  > Corleone ally may be an assassination (Vatican, after all, is a
>>  > "country"), but the retaliatory murder (with glasses) does not, because
>>  > it was ordered by criminals, not by someone within the Vatican
>>  > hierarchy. For this reason I am not advocating for this distinction,
>>  > even though I am putting it out as a possibility. A simpler approach
>>  > might be to claim that all contract killings are assassinations, but
>>  > that category is not exclusive either. A traditional government assassin
>>  > of spy novels is still an assassin, even though he may work under
>>  > orders, not under contract.
>  > >
>>  > But, by far the most oblique of assassination euphemisms in the latter
>>  > context might be "make contact with" the target.
>>  >
>>  >     VS-)
>>  >
>>  > On 7/14/2010 8:59 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>  >> At 1:00 AM -0400 7/14/10, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>>  >>>   retire [smne]/[smne] retired
>>  >>> help to meet with an accident/met with an accident
>>  >>> make/made way for new leadership
>>  >>> eliminate
>>  >>> pave/[d] the way for the new government
>>  >>> end the career
>>  >>> smoke/been smoked
>>  >>> send a love letter
>>  >>> cash/[ed] in the insurance/retirement policy
>>  >>> [smne] cashed out/cashed the chips
>>  >>> send to the morgue
>>  >>> write a one-way ticket
>>  >>> target
>>  >>> drop
>>  >>> pay respects [or, give smne the respect that he deserves]
>>  >>> pay a visit
>>  >>> silence [smne]
>>  >>> "Paulie? Won't see him no more."
>>  >>>
>>  >> If we've moved beyond assassination to jargon for simple contract
>>  >> hits and such, there's always "sleeping with the fishes" for the
>>  >> aftermath.
>>  >>
>>  >> LH
>>  >>
>>  >
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>
>
>
>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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