Only Murder

Only Murder Only Murder Only Murder By Maeve Maddox A reader commenting on Persian Is a Lovely Word wonders about the difference between assassination and murder: Maybe Farsi is a racist word like hashassin is. I mean, why use assassin when the word is only used for VIPs? Why are ordinary people only murdered? Where do we draw the line? Certainly political speech writers, advertisers and religious leaders know how to choose words for emotional impact, but i have to disagree with the notion that murder is somehow a lesser word to describe the act of taking a persons life. The word assassination has a specific meaning that has nothing to do with class perceptions. By VIP I assume that the reader means any kind of wealthy celebrity, for example an actor or a star athlete, and not just a corporate executive, senator, or president. According to this definition, both President McKinley and John Lennon were VIPs, but McKinley was assassinated, while Lennon was murdered. The word assassin derives from an Arabic word. 1531 (in Anglo-L. from c.1237), via Fr. and It., from Arabic hashishiyyin hashish-users, pl. of hashishiyy, from hashish (q.v.). A fanatical Ismaili Muslim sect of the time of the Crusades, under leadership of the Old Man of the Mountains (translates Arabic shaik-al-jibal, name applied to Hasan ibu-al-Sabbah), with a reputation for murdering opposing leaders after intoxicating themselves by eating hashish. The pl. suffix -in was mistaken in Europe for part of the word (cf. Bedouin). Online Etymology Dictionary In English the word has retained its political associations. The most usual targets of assassination attempts are presidents, kings and other high-ranking political leaders. The hope of the assassin is to bring about social change on a large scale by eliminating a person perceived to be not just famous, but powerful. By extension, assassination can apply to a murder committed for ideological reasons. The murder of obscure employees of an abortion clinic could be classed as assassination if the murderer acted from a desire to put a stop to the activities of the clinic. The connotation that assassin has for English speakers may not translate to other languages. French, for example, has two words for murderer: meurtrier and assassin. As far as I can tell, they are used interchangeably. Murder is one of the most dreadful and powerful words in the language. The Old English word morà °or meant the secret killing of a person. Even in a society in which killing was common because of war and the tradition of the blood feud, the word murder was reserved for the most contemptible and horrendous of cowardly acts. Both assassination and murder refer to the deliberate taking of a life, but to me the word murderer carries a stronger emotional punch than assassin. More words to describe deaths resulting from other than natural causes: manslaughter: c.1300, from O.E. mannslà ¦ht (Anglian), mannslieht (W.Saxon), from man (q.v.) + slà ¦ht, slieht act of killing. Etymologically identical with homicide, but in legal use usually distinguished from murder and restricted to simple homicide. homicide: killing, c.1230, from O.Fr. homicide, from L. homicidium, from homo man + cidium act of killing. The meaning person who kills is also from O.Fr., from L. homicida, from -cida killer. execution: c.1360, from O.Fr. execution, from L. executionem agent noun from exequi follow out, from ex- out + sequi follow (see sequel). Sense of act of putting to death is from M.E. legal phrases such as don execution of deth carry out a sentence of death. suicide: deliberate killing of oneself, 1651, from Mod.L. suicidium suicide, from L. sui of oneself Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comma After i.e. and e.g.What is Dative Case?The Two Sounds of G

Transition Metals †Properties of the Element Group

Transition Metals - Properties of the Element Group The largest group of elements is the transition metals. Here is a look at the location of these elements and their shared properties. What Is a Transition Metal? Of all the groups of elements, the transition metals can be the most confusing to identify because there are different definitions of which elements should be included. According to the IUPAC, a transition metal is any element with a partially filled d electron sub-shell. This describes groups 3 through 12 on the periodic table, although the f-block elements (lanthanides and actinides, below the main body of the periodic table) are also transition metals. The d-block elements are called transition metals, while the lanthanides and actinides are called inner transition metals. The elements are called transition metals because the English chemistry Charles Bury used the term in 1921 to describe the transition series of elements, which referred to the transition from an inner electron layer with a stable group of 8 electrons to one with 18 electrons or the transition from 18 electrons to 32. Location of the Transition Metals  on the Periodic Table The transition elements are located in groups IB to VIIIB of the periodic table. In other words, the transition metals are elements: 21 (scandium) through 29 (copper)39 (yttrium) through 47 (silver)57 (lanthanum) through 79 (gold)89 (actinium) through 112 (copernicium) - which includes the lanthanides and actinides Another way to view it is that the transition metals include the d-block elements, plus many people consider the f-block elements to be a special subset of transition metals. While aluminum, gallium, indium, tin, thallium, lead, bismuth, nihonium, flerovium, moscovium, and livermorium are metals, these basic metals have less metallic character than other metals on the periodic table and tend not to be considered as transition metals. Overview of Transition Metal Properties Because they possess the properties of metals, the transition elements are also known as the transition metals. These elements are very hard, with high melting points and boiling points. Moving from left to right across the periodic table, the five d orbitals become more filled. The d electrons are loosely bound, which contributes to the high electrical conductivity and malleability of the transition elements. The transition elements have low ionization energies. They exhibit a wide range of oxidation states or positively charged forms. The positive oxidation states allow transition elements to form many different ionic and partially ionic compounds. The formation of complexes causes the d orbitals to split into two energy sublevels, which enables many of the complexes to absorb specific frequencies of light. Thus, the complexes form characteristic colored solutions and compounds. Complexation reactions sometimes enhance the relatively low solubility of some compounds. Quick Summary of the Transition Metal  Properties Low ionization energiesPositive oxidation statesMultiple oxidation states, since there is a low energy gap between themVery hardExhibit metallic lusterHigh melting pointsHigh boiling pointsHigh electrical conductivityHigh thermal conductivityMalleableForm colored compounds, due to d-d electronic transitionsFive d orbitals become more filled, from left to right on the periodic tableTypically form paramagnetic compounds because of the unpaired d electronsTypically exhibit high catalytic activity