Does anyone besides me find the language used to refer to our military annoying?
Today, on Fox News, it was reported that “five troops died today in a road side bombing.”
Um, five individuals lost their lives, correct? Is not ‘troops’ used to refer to a plural? “Troops of Soldiers’. Like ‘Flock of Birds’. You would never say, “Five flocks died today in a tragic power line incident,” meaning that 5 birds were dead.
Please don’t misinterpret my meaning here. I think that the loss of even one soldier is a tragedy. They are so brave and I respect them for being so. I would just like them to have the proper references in our media, who so often get the basics about the military wrong.
So, tragically, five soldiers lost their lives today in Afghanistan. My heart and prayers go out to their families.
Just get it right, media. It’s the least they deserve.
Sheesh!
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2 comments:
My understanding is that the term "troops" is a generic term for anyone serving in the US armed forced. So, if an attack injured 2 US Army soldiers, 2 Marines, 2 Navy personnel and 2 Airforce members, it would be reported as "8 troops" injured, since it wouldn't be appropriate to refer to 8 members of a single service in that case.
this is a test
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