On Friday 08 August 2003 22:46, Mathieu Bouchard wrote:
On Fri, 8 Aug 2003, Larry Troxler wrote:
Actually I didn't know that - I for one just think of "lynching" as synomynous with "beating". Then again, I could just be an ignorant, racist, American ;-)
my dictionary says "to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction"
which is also always how I've seen the word used
and that's a bit more than just beating up.
Right you are, although since it the word is rarely used in its literal sense, it doesn't actually matter much whether it means to be "beat up" or to be "killed".
The only important question I think, is whether this term is offensive to blacks in the US or elsewhere. I hope we can get some opinions to this question (especially from US brothers!) posted on this list. (OT I know, yes, yes, but still...)
Larry