Assassination Vs. Murder: What's the Difference?
 

Watching news coverage of the two slain NYPD officers, it is often said they were assassinated, vs. simply stating that they were murdered. My friend and I are having a discussion about that. My assertion is that by using the term "assassinated," their lives (and thus their murders) are being ascribed a higher status than other murder victims. My friend does not agree.

As an example, recently in Houston, an elderly car wash owner was killed....no robbery, just killed. No news coverage referred to that man as having been assassinated.

When's the last time you heard of someone being "assassinated?" When's the last time you heard of someone being murdered? People get murdered all the time. Even the folks that are innocent victims of murder don't get their murders referred to as assassination, right?

...or am I totally crazy?

Not crazy.


as·sas·si·nate verb
: to kill (someone, such as a famous or important person) usually for political reasons


murder verb
: to kill (a person) in a deliberate and unlawful way : to commit the murder of (someone)



http://www.merriam-webster.com/

That what Poll threads are for! :lol:

"Assassination" is used by the media to impart a more sinister motive to the murder, to make it a pernicious and grievous tragedy, as if the victim stood for a cause or was well-known proponent of a political stance. Nothing but spin.

Kill one person, you're a murderer.

Kill ten people, you're a mass murderer.

Kill ten thousand people, you're a Conqueror.






Hope this helps. :seasix:

I meant specifically with regards to the subject matter of the thread, not generally.

:rofl:

:barnbabe:

I have always thought that assassination was tied to a political agenda. Murder is just killing someone that probably didn't need kilt.

Those cops were murdered.

In both cases both are murder. In only 1 is it also assassination.

Well, I suppose assignation could be political..... :yesnod:

Kinda like Bill and Monica. :)

as·sig·na·tion
ˌasiɡˈnāSH(ə)n/
noun
noun: assignation; plural noun: assignations

1.
an appointment to meet someone in secret, typically one made by lovers.
"his assignation with an older woman"

I can't and never could speel for shit. :funnier:

:rofl:

Its an engineer thing. Ask DAB, he will confirm that. Its something that happens during the courses we have to take. :leaving:

Assassination vs murder to me is more like pro's vs. minors. There tends to be more skill and planning involved than simply murdering.

Spelling was important in business school, too. I don't think engineers and English majors had a monopoly on proper spelling and grammar.

:dance:

*grammer

IIRC, she got runned over by a reindeer.

:dance:

She got runned over by a damned old train....

Assassination means the press has to use the killer's first, middle and last names whenever they refer to him forever.:yesnod:

No one knows why this is, but it seems to be a rule.

Jack Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald.

Lee Harvey Oswald was murdered by Jack Ruby.

Some may think it looks better on a resume' to be:

A Skilled Assassin, rather than just another murderer.

:confused5: