"hero"

[Jonathan Lighter]

An eyewitness of the Oak Creek shootings tells CNN that the gunman was a
"coward" but the victims were "heroes"
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/09/justice/wisconsin-temple-shooting/index.html?eref=edition

"Simply put, our families -- his mother, who left behind two beautiful boys
... our father, the four other victims, the people who were shot and are in
the hospital, the police officer who did his job -- they are heroes," he
said. "They were living the American dream."

The inclusion of the policeman may make this ex. less diagnostic in the
eyes of some, but the victims are described as "heroes" in any case.

It seems that people are struggling for a word that they can make mean
"innocent victim of  mass violence, for whom we should mourn," and English
has no such word.

JL

On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 11:21 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: "hero"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Pardon me while I go clean up the mess this has caused...
>
>      VS-)
>
> On 7/25/2012 10:45 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > That's what heroes always say.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 10:34 AM, paul johnson <paulzjoh at mtnhome.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> I'm reminded of one of the joint Chief of Staff, when being complemented
> >> on the multiple ribbons festooning his chest.
> >>           "Most of those are for showing up to work."
> >>
>
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>



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