>A better way of saying would be "Following the tragic/unnecessary death of
>Brazilian electrician..." - since it was a tragic accident and calling it
>"execution" serves no purpose other than pissing people off.
I wasn't particularly pissed off by reading his comment. I was vaguely incensed by your patronising attitude, but from what I have observed it seems par for the course.
Still, if you're going to sneer, you could at least be accurate and use the indefinite article in your proposed sentence.
More importantly, if you are going to take issue in such a pedantic way with the use of the term 'execution', it would be a good idea to propose something better. You opt for obtuseness whereas Orwell, since you cite him, would have insisted on clarity. True, this Brazilian electrician was not executed, since that involves a legal penalty. But it is descending into apologetics to displace the verb with a noun. And if you prefer not to say he was murdered, which he may well have been since police have no special powers in English law to terminate life, then the obvious verb is kill. Hence: "Following the totally unnecessary killing of..." would be a better way for pedants to proceed.
As it is, I think the original comment is fine, since we are allowed the use of metaphor to convey outrage and astonishment. One of those little quirks about language.
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