[Ads-l] coward

[Martin Purdy]

Yes, only 'brave' when armed to the teeth, in other words.  Take away the guns or explosives and the facade of bravery would fall away.
Martin NZ

 

    On Wednesday, December 18, 2019, 04:15:57 PM GMT+13, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:  
 
 I have always thought this sense of coward means someone who kills or
commits violence without giving the victim a chance to fight back.

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/06/world/hijacking-in-karachi-reagan-brands-hijacking-of-jet-a-cowardly-act.html

On Tue, Dec 17, 2019, 7:28 PM Gadi Niram <gadi at maniagrid.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Dec 17, 2019 at 7:16 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> > I first became aware of another sense when the 9/11 hijackers were
> > described that very day as "cowards," even though they clearly were not
> > afraid of danger.  Since then other terrorists and killers have been
> > routinely described as "cowards" - meaning "a vicious person who acts
> > treacherously."
> >
>
> My first memory of this sense was back in 1995, when Bill Clinton said of
> the Oklahoma City bombing
> that "[i]t was an act of cowardice and it was evil."  I've thought about
> this use of "cowards"/"cowardice"
> a bit over the years, and I've come to understand it as meaning "a person
> who acts violently, rejecting
> the more difficult and honorable path of doing good."
>
> ] <http://www.americandialect.org>gadi at maniagrid.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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