Killer

Transcript

Violent language is pretty common in everyday English. For example, the word killer has appeared in popular computer magazines for at least 20 years, usually in phrases like killer applications. Several months ago I read an article about killer digital libraries.

I've never understood why pop technology writers use such violent language. It seems irresponsible and childish. Maybe those writers have never seen someone kill another person in real life. Maybe they use words like kill lightly because they can't even imagine the gut-wrenching shock and tragedy of violent death.

I've seen violent death, and the word killer brings back powerful memories of tragic events that I'd rather forget. For example, many years ago, in the mid-1970s, I saw a young man die violently at the University of Benghazi in Libya.

As my colleagues and I watched from the Faculty of Arts building a few meters away, several hundred students gathered in a small parking lot and prepared to march from the campus into Benghazi. Two police officers in plain clothes tried to stop the students at the parking lot exit. One of them drew his revolver and pointed it at the students. As the mass of young people pressed forward, the policeman panicked and fired into the face of one the students. The student collapsed as blood sprayed from his head, and there was a pause as several of his friends began to carry his body away toward the Faculty of Medicine building. Then other students began to shout in rage, and some of them rushed forward to attack the cops. Fortunately, the two policemen ran away without any more killing, and the students eventually marched into the city.

Was that policeman a killer? No. I saw him kill, but I would not call him a killer. That would be too simple. Nobody came forward to mediate, and he made a bad decision under great pressure. It's easy to give someone a label like killer, but that only allows everyone else to avoid responsibility. To call that cop a killer would be to escape from the fact that everyone there, all of us, played a part in that killing. Over the years I've often regretted that my colleagues and I did nothing to help make that confrontation more peaceful.

The childish abuse of violent words shows disregard for language and for people who suffer from real violence. Words like killer distract us from reality and seem to imply that we're just innocent spectators. In fact, we share responsibility for the welfare of others. That responsibility includes using language carefully, with consideration for other people and their experiences.