"taking out"
Mar. 23rd, 2011 12:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
milktreeWhen did the euphemism "taking out" become part of the language such that pretty much every news organization uses it?
Once upon a time it meant, "to move something outside."
I find it a little alarming that reputable news organizations such as the BBC, CNN, and NPR say, without irony, "take out" to mean "kill", "destroy", "obliterate", etc.
We're not "taking out" Libyan air defenses. We're not. We're destroying them. We don't "take out" insurgents, we kill them.
Don't sugar coat it. We're destroying things, killing people. Use the words that mean what you mean.
Once upon a time it meant, "to move something outside."
I find it a little alarming that reputable news organizations such as the BBC, CNN, and NPR say, without irony, "take out" to mean "kill", "destroy", "obliterate", etc.
We're not "taking out" Libyan air defenses. We're not. We're destroying them. We don't "take out" insurgents, we kill them.
Don't sugar coat it. We're destroying things, killing people. Use the words that mean what you mean.
