"gunfight" and "exchange of gunfire"

[Jonathan Lighter]

CNN amateur video recorded an extended police fusillade. It could have been
aimed in the air to accompany the flash-bang grenades.

So far, no reports from police, that I've heard, that Joker shot back or
even had a gun at the time. None. What they're saying is that he
"surrendered after about twenty-five minutes of negotiations."

CNN now casually terms the event a "shootout."

The point is that if he didn't shoot, there was no "fight," "battle," or
"shootout." What actually occurred is thus being forced to fit into a
movie-driven ("Come and get me, coppers!") semantic category that may be a
serious falsification of what happened.

JL


On Sun, Apr 21, 2013 at 9:37 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "gunfight" and "exchange of gunfire"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Well, it's clear that the initial exchange with the pair involved a
> gunfight. From the Globe today:
>
> > “I saw him standing there shooting at police,” Aske said. “When he
> > fired, there was a little flash of light. I could hear the gun firing.
> > It was terrifying.”
>
> Not sure about the second. Reporters generally can only tell a major
> change in sound of gunfire, not so much if there are multiple
> /different/ guns. For that matter, I'm not even sure anyone actually
> fired a live shot near the boat.
>
> Both NBC and local ABC network reporters pointed out that the /sound/ of
> gunfire had changed at some point when Jokhar was found. But it's not
> clear from what to what. Details are coming out slowly. We might know by
> end of next week.
>
> Latest, so far: http://goo.gl/5G1xQ
>
> VS-)
>
>
> On 4/20/2013 3:06 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > These appear to be exciting knee-jerk terms for "the sound of numerous
> > gunshots ."
> >
> > Media reports claim that Joker was captured after a gun battle with
> police.
> >
> > But has anyone actually reported that in his weakened condition he did
> any
> > shooting at all, or that he was even captured in possession of a firearm?
> >
> > Just asking.
> >
> > JL
>
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