2006-10-03 09:00:53 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Psychology
I believe in USA English, the word assassinated is used when the murder is motivated by an agenda like politics. Murder is used more broadly and suggests a more random approach.
2006-10-03 09:04:45 · answer #1 · answered by William T 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
A normal person can be considered to be assasinated, but the press will usually use the terms such as "contract hit" or "professional hit" or similar. An important person can be considered to be murdered just as well. Most of the terminology is situation depandant, and politically dependant. If an assasination would move forward a political agenda better than a murder would, then that person was assasinated and not murdered. And vice versa as well.
2006-10-03 09:05:12 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
society prefers "murders" to "assassinations"
because a murder connotes the heat of passion
and an assassination connotes a cold deliberation
we are more comfortable
living among
hot blood
than among
cold hearts
2006-10-03 19:36:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Assassination is a type of murder. It's usually about the office the victim holds.
2006-10-03 09:03:59 · answer #4 · answered by Harriet 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think you have to be a high ranking political figure. Famous people are killed, but I don't think I've ever heard their murder referred to as assassination.
If John Lennon was murdered and not assassinated, then I don't think any pop culture figure can ever be assassinated. (I'm not a big JL fan, but his death was tragic. He was young, and it was totally unexpected.)
2006-10-03 09:09:47 · answer #5 · answered by FozzieBear 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Assassination usually means a political motive.
2006-10-03 09:08:00 · answer #6 · answered by michael k 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not a question of importance, it's deemed assasination if a trained killer was paid to do it. By the way, Shakespeare invented the word "assasination", it wasn't an arabic phase.
2006-10-03 09:11:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think an assassination normally has a political motive behind it.
2006-10-03 09:10:33 · answer #8 · answered by Jude 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not the victim - it's the method.
Next question - where do we get the word assassin from? Anybody speak Arabic?
2006-10-03 09:07:09 · answer #9 · answered by 34th B.G. - USAAF 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
ASSASSINATED: TRANSITIVE VERB: 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons.
2006-10-03 09:05:08 · answer #10 · answered by jennifer 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋