This is the worst murder, train disaster, masacre.....
Is there ever a best one?
2006-09-17 18:05:22 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in News & Events ➔ Other - News & Events
Aren't any disasters shocking?
How can you rate the worst, it doesn't make sense.
2006-09-17 18:11:54 · update #1
Apart from Aussie, you people don't get it.
2006-09-17 21:50:56 · update #2
Good question. To me any loss of life is devastating.
The media are to blame, as in "Read this newspaper, WORST LOSS OF LIFE! WORST TRAIN SMASH etc"
What a joke, there is no worst, all are as devastating to the people who have lost loved ones.
Have you ever seen 'best lost of life, only 1 killed'?
2006-09-17 20:15:57 · answer #1 · answered by ? 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
good question. i guess the bigger the disaster, the worse it is? to say something is "the worst" means that the disaster supercedes the casualties or devastation of the "worst one before that".
BEST would not be used in congunction with a negative occurance.
Negative occurences require adjectives of a neagtive variety.
Positive occuerences requie descriptive words of a positive nature eg. The 'best' party ever! or 'a great party'
2006-09-17 18:16:13 · answer #2 · answered by jessop m 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
"The worst" gives it some form of ranking.
If instead they said, "the most horrific", "the biggest", "the greatest number dead since..." then the word count starts to blow out and the big, kick-in-the-teeth headline would need to be reduced in size to fit.
It is all about getting a quick, attention-grabbing lead into hooking you to read/hear/watch the news story.
2006-09-17 19:38:26 · answer #3 · answered by trev 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
all disasters are shocking yes but when it has just happened it seems like it is the worst disaster etc that has ever happened & if more people are hurt, that counts as well towards how its rated.
but yes I know exactly what you are saying!
2006-09-17 20:02:39 · answer #4 · answered by ausblue 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Disasters are compared statistically to past disasters and are then rated.
Just as the recent loss of your wonderful native-son Steve Irwin was one of the world's greatest losses of "wonderful" people.
I was and still am DEEPLY SADDENED & SHOCKED by the loss of this nice man. I grieve for his poor children -- his daughter who knows and adores him & his poor baby boy who will NEVER (really) know his father. My heart goes out to his sweet wife who will be lost w/o him and to his father who has lost his son! Our country grieves with yours for his loss. So sorry!!!
2006-09-17 23:58:09 · answer #5 · answered by BARBIE 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because its new and when it happens it always is
Do you expect the news reader to say just a minute i will look in the history books if more people died in the accident that happen in the past
2006-09-17 18:41:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
At the time it is.
2006-09-17 18:09:50 · answer #7 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋