The next will not be a very powerful side of the homicide of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. However it does illustrate how utilizing the right phrases and being acutely aware of figures of fashion assist keep away from confusion.
Technically, a firearm cartridge is made from (1) a casing that holds gunpowder and a primer to ignite the latter, and (2) a bullet, which is a projectile fitted on the finish of the casing. A bullet is thus a part of a cartridge however it isn’t the identical factor. Now, a determine of speech known as synecdoche consists in utilizing an element to characterize a complete (or typically the entire to characterize an element) like “boots on the ground” to talk of troopers on the bottom. Individuals, particularly these not acquainted with firearms, could also be repeating a synecdoche by saying “bullet” to characterize the entire “cartridge,” like Mr. Jourdain was doing prose with out realizing it; or they’re simply confused. Even dictionaries are sometimes not clear. When utilizing this determine of fashion, one should perceive, and be certain his reader understands, that the boots usually are not marching by themselves and that the cartridge doesn’t go away the gun by the barrel at (or near) the velocity of sound just like the bullet does.
A Wall Avenue Journal story (“Police Zero In on New York Hostel in Hunt for UnitedHealth Shooter,” December 5, 2024), signed by three journalists, talked about that the killer of Mr. Thompson had
used a Sharpie to depart coded messages … on bullets that got here out of his gun when it jammed, the [law-enforcement] official stated.
This sentence is a case of taking a synedoche actually. How might the killer write on the bullets when there may be not a lot house on a 9mm (diameter) lead bullet? If the killer had managed this tough process, how might have his messages been deciphered after the deformed or fragmented bullets had been fired (“came out of his gun”) and recovered, most likely embedded in some object? Or is it that the killer extra realistically wrote on the casing a part of his cartridges? Simply yesterday, the newspaper repeated its complicated assertion, however dropping the jamming half (“Person of Interest in Killing of UnitedHealthcare Executive in Custody in Pennsylvania,” Wall Avenue Journal, December 9, 2024, up to date 12:31 pm ET).
The journalists had been talking not of bullets, however of casings, that are ejected by the ejection port of the pistol slide after every firing (and probably of 1 casing nonetheless half of a complete cartridge that might have been ejected by the journal effectively when a jam was cleared). The police would have discovered all these on the bottom the place the shooter had been firing. In fact, the confusion might have originated from the law-enforcement supply, however these individuals have normally seen a pistol in motion. It’s not not possible that the law-enforcement official felt it wanted to dumb it down for the journalist, who ought to then have objected and requested clarifying questions.
The unique story in Monetary Instances was considerably much less obscure (“New York Police Investigate Bullet Casing Inscriptions in Killing of Insurance Executive,” December 5, 2024):
Detectives in New York are investigating inscriptions of “deny”, “defend” and “depose” on bullet casings left on the scene of the homicide … in response to an individual acquainted with the case.
The FT a minimum of distinguished the casings from the “bullets,” even when it used the complicated synecdoche as if the casing had been a part of the bullet as an alternative of being a part of the cartridge. If the casing is actually a part of the bullet, then the bullet is a part of the bullet.
One could say that each one this doesn’t matter a lot. But, it could not have been extra difficult to make use of the right phrases and keep away from any confusion. By the way, a Monetary Instances story of yesterday talked about that the suspect’s pistol was a home-made (“ghost”) gun, which might clarify why it jammed (“US Police Detain ‘Person of Interest’ in UnitedHealth Executive’s Murder,” December 9, 2024). Prime business semi-automatic firearms do jam, however not usually.
Generally, the obvious use of synecdoche is treacherous and extra consequential. Saying “the United States” (or “France” or no matter nation’s title) “did this or thinks that” to seek advice from the federal government of america confuses the bullet (the federal government) with the entire cartridge (the nation), as if the federal government had been an identical to the nation. In political-speak and social evaluation, synecdoche is harmful, maybe greater than metaphor or hyperbole. They’ll cover confusion or propaganda.
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A cartridge is made from a casing (and its inner parts) and a bullet
