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by havkd 1684 days ago
Why does it say “dies” when he killed himself? And please, no trick answers.

One of my favourite posts of his, why lingerie is fucking stupid: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=38...

2 comments

Did he not die?
When someone gets killed or kills himself we don't usually say he's "died". The verb "died" in some way has a sense of having been an accident or simply passing because one is too old.
Actually, no, saying somebody "died of suicide" is preferred language[1].

It's important when reporting on suicide deaths not to glorify suicide. Copy cat suicides are a real risk. Words like "successful" have a harmful effect. In fact, the media often doesn't state the cause of death, to prevent copy cats.

On the other hand, you don't want to dæmonize depressed people living with suicidal thoughts. "Committed" would imply people with suicidal thoughts are considering sinning or acting like a criminal, which isn't the case. Suicidal thoughts are serious, but people with them aren't evil, and should reach out for help and support.

[1] https://www.irmi.com/articles/expert-commentary/language-mat...

"killed himself"
What is your point? That clearly isn't typical terminology for news reporting.

Moreover, I explained it is bad terminology, for it trivializes and normalises suicide.

That information came out a few hours after this thread was posted if HN/SA's timestamps are showing the right times