Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Terretta 5431 days ago
Today's journalists overuse this word. It's only relevant when speaking of the "alleged" suspect or the suspect's "alleged" actions when the person's participation or their actions are not yet proven. Once proven, the word alleged or allegedly is inappropriate, and it's also inappropriate to describe a crime or characteristics of a crime as it wrongly casts doubt on the victim.

See this for a clear explanation of how this term is often used in error:

http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/alleged.html

1 comments

Thank you for the clarification (and especially that link; it's an amazing clear and concise description of the issue).