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What is the meaning of “liquidate†and is it appropriate to use it as a substitute for “kill�
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Recently, there is a lengthy discussion around "liquidate" word in another SE question and its meaning. I'm wondering is it correct to use "liquidate" instead of "kill" in that particular situation (i.e. referring to some terrorist acts and killing innocent people)? If its meaning is equivalent to "kill" how prevalent is using this word among native English speakers? I appreciate any recommendation or suggestion.
Some of those discussions are mentioned here for reference:
- "liquidate" word seems "unnecessarily insensitive (and esoteric) way to refer to the tragic deaths of humans".
- Also "liquidate" word may bring this image up: "Liquidated in this context also brings up imagery of liquefaction... an equally disturbing image when applied to people"
- Some other opinion: " It's a word used in James Bond and similar fictions, also e.g. when describing mafia murders, also e.g. killing political opponents (sometimes en masse), or e.g. genocide, a synonym for "assassinate"; perhaps it even comes across as dispassionate somehow, i.e. professional extra-legal killing."
- The one that bring "liquidate" up to that question defend his/her choice as: "From the Oxford American Dictionarey: LIQUIDATE (V): TO ELIMINATE, ESPECIALLY BY VIOLENT MEANS; KILL."
- Someone mentioned it is common word for referring to genocide or mass murdering: "if you read history about "death squads" for example, or political infighting, genocide ... it's used twice in Wikipedia's article on Stalin, for example. Perhaps it was originally a euphemism, like "eliminate"."
meaning
asked 2 hours ago
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Recently, there is a lengthy discussion around "liquidate" word in another SE question and its meaning. I'm wondering is it correct to use "liquidate" instead of "kill" in that particular situation (i.e. referring to some terrorist acts and killing innocent people)? If its meaning is equivalent to "kill" how prevalent is using this word among native English speakers? I appreciate any recommendation or suggestion.
Some of those discussions are mentioned here for reference:
- "liquidate" word seems "unnecessarily insensitive (and esoteric) way to refer to the tragic deaths of humans".
- Also "liquidate" word may bring this image up: "Liquidated in this context also brings up imagery of liquefaction... an equally disturbing image when applied to people"
- Some other opinion: " It's a word used in James Bond and similar fictions, also e.g. when describing mafia murders, also e.g. killing political opponents (sometimes en masse), or e.g. genocide, a synonym for "assassinate"; perhaps it even comes across as dispassionate somehow, i.e. professional extra-legal killing."
- The one that bring "liquidate" up to that question defend his/her choice as: "From the Oxford American Dictionarey: LIQUIDATE (V): TO ELIMINATE, ESPECIALLY BY VIOLENT MEANS; KILL."
- Someone mentioned it is common word for referring to genocide or mass murdering: "if you read history about "death squads" for example, or political infighting, genocide ... it's used twice in Wikipedia's article on Stalin, for example. Perhaps it was originally a euphemism, like "eliminate"."
meaning
asked 2 hours ago
Alone Programmer
1164
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Alone Programmer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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2
Welcome to EL&U. The major dictionaries all include a meaning of liquidate that means to destroy or eliminate someone or something. If the dictionaries you checked or other research you attempted have been insufficient, please edit your post to explain why.
– choster
2 hours ago
1
@JanusBahsJacquet Done.
– Alone Programmer
1 hour ago
1
That discussion from SE is ridiculous. The writer who answered that question said the "flight crew was liquidated." Isn't that exactly what those horrible, awful people did? They were liquidating everyone. Those silly complaints from native speakers are incredible. They sound ignorant. Is anyone so politically correct as to not agree that many people were in fact liquidated that day?? Geesus. It sure seemed that way to those of us who experienced that day in NYC. The term is strong, so were the acts it refers to!! In fact, it was a bloodbath.
– Lambie
25 mins ago
1
@Lambie I am not PC at all - still, I disagree. Liquidate is an euphemism used by the people doing the liquidating. Calling a murderous act of terrorism liquidation is inappropriate.
– michael.hor257k
10 mins ago
1
@Lambie: "The term is strong" - No, it is dispassionate, the opposite of strong. That's why people are upset.
– Kevin
9 mins ago
 |Â
show 6 more comments
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
Recently, there is a lengthy discussion around "liquidate" word in another SE question and its meaning. I'm wondering is it correct to use "liquidate" instead of "kill" in that particular situation (i.e. referring to some terrorist acts and killing innocent people)? If its meaning is equivalent to "kill" how prevalent is using this word among native English speakers? I appreciate any recommendation or suggestion.
Some of those discussions are mentioned here for reference:
- "liquidate" word seems "unnecessarily insensitive (and esoteric) way to refer to the tragic deaths of humans".
- Also "liquidate" word may bring this image up: "Liquidated in this context also brings up imagery of liquefaction... an equally disturbing image when applied to people"
- Some other opinion: " It's a word used in James Bond and similar fictions, also e.g. when describing mafia murders, also e.g. killing political opponents (sometimes en masse), or e.g. genocide, a synonym for "assassinate"; perhaps it even comes across as dispassionate somehow, i.e. professional extra-legal killing."
- The one that bring "liquidate" up to that question defend his/her choice as: "From the Oxford American Dictionarey: LIQUIDATE (V): TO ELIMINATE, ESPECIALLY BY VIOLENT MEANS; KILL."
- Someone mentioned it is common word for referring to genocide or mass murdering: "if you read history about "death squads" for example, or political infighting, genocide ... it's used twice in Wikipedia's article on Stalin, for example. Perhaps it was originally a euphemism, like "eliminate"."
meaning
asked 2 hours ago
Alone Programmer
1164
New contributor
Alone Programmer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Recently, there is a lengthy discussion around "liquidate" word in another SE question and its meaning. I'm wondering is it correct to use "liquidate" instead of "kill" in that particular situation (i.e. referring to some terrorist acts and killing innocent people)? If its meaning is equivalent to "kill" how prevalent is using this word among native English speakers? I appreciate any recommendation or suggestion.
Some of those discussions are mentioned here for reference:
- "liquidate" word seems "unnecessarily insensitive (and esoteric) way to refer to the tragic deaths of humans".
- Also "liquidate" word may bring this image up: "Liquidated in this context also brings up imagery of liquefaction... an equally disturbing image when applied to people"
- Some other opinion: " It's a word used in James Bond and similar fictions, also e.g. when describing mafia murders, also e.g. killing political opponents (sometimes en masse), or e.g. genocide, a synonym for "assassinate"; perhaps it even comes across as dispassionate somehow, i.e. professional extra-legal killing."
- The one that bring "liquidate" up to that question defend his/her choice as: "From the Oxford American Dictionarey: LIQUIDATE (V): TO ELIMINATE, ESPECIALLY BY VIOLENT MEANS; KILL."
- Someone mentioned it is common word for referring to genocide or mass murdering: "if you read history about "death squads" for example, or political infighting, genocide ... it's used twice in Wikipedia's article on Stalin, for example. Perhaps it was originally a euphemism, like "eliminate"."
meaning
meaning
asked 2 hours ago
Alone Programmer
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asked 2 hours ago
Alone Programmer
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edited 57 secs ago
asked 2 hours ago
Alone Programmer
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asked 2 hours ago
Alone Programmer
1164
asked 2 hours ago
Alone Programmer
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1164
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Alone Programmer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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New contributor
Alone Programmer is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
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2
Welcome to EL&U. The major dictionaries all include a meaning of liquidate that means to destroy or eliminate someone or something. If the dictionaries you checked or other research you attempted have been insufficient, please edit your post to explain why.
– choster
2 hours ago
1
@JanusBahsJacquet Done.
– Alone Programmer
1 hour ago
1
That discussion from SE is ridiculous. The writer who answered that question said the "flight crew was liquidated." Isn't that exactly what those horrible, awful people did? They were liquidating everyone. Those silly complaints from native speakers are incredible. They sound ignorant. Is anyone so politically correct as to not agree that many people were in fact liquidated that day?? Geesus. It sure seemed that way to those of us who experienced that day in NYC. The term is strong, so were the acts it refers to!! In fact, it was a bloodbath.
– Lambie
25 mins ago
1
@Lambie I am not PC at all - still, I disagree. Liquidate is an euphemism used by the people doing the liquidating. Calling a murderous act of terrorism liquidation is inappropriate.
– michael.hor257k
10 mins ago
1
@Lambie: "The term is strong" - No, it is dispassionate, the opposite of strong. That's why people are upset.
– Kevin
9 mins ago
 |Â
show 6 more comments
2
Welcome to EL&U. The major dictionaries all include a meaning of liquidate that means to destroy or eliminate someone or something. If the dictionaries you checked or other research you attempted have been insufficient, please edit your post to explain why.
– choster
2 hours ago
1
@JanusBahsJacquet Done.
– Alone Programmer
1 hour ago
1
That discussion from SE is ridiculous. The writer who answered that question said the "flight crew was liquidated." Isn't that exactly what those horrible, awful people did? They were liquidating everyone. Those silly complaints from native speakers are incredible. They sound ignorant. Is anyone so politically correct as to not agree that many people were in fact liquidated that day?? Geesus. It sure seemed that way to those of us who experienced that day in NYC. The term is strong, so were the acts it refers to!! In fact, it was a bloodbath.
– Lambie
25 mins ago
1
@Lambie I am not PC at all - still, I disagree. Liquidate is an euphemism used by the people doing the liquidating. Calling a murderous act of terrorism liquidation is inappropriate.
– michael.hor257k
10 mins ago
1
@Lambie: "The term is strong" - No, it is dispassionate, the opposite of strong. That's why people are upset.
– Kevin
9 mins ago
2
2
Welcome to EL&U. The major dictionaries all include a meaning of liquidate that means to destroy or eliminate someone or something. If the dictionaries you checked or other research you attempted have been insufficient, please edit your post to explain why.
– choster
2 hours ago
Welcome to EL&U. The major dictionaries all include a meaning of liquidate that means to destroy or eliminate someone or something. If the dictionaries you checked or other research you attempted have been insufficient, please edit your post to explain why.
– choster
2 hours ago
1
1
@JanusBahsJacquet Done.
– Alone Programmer
1 hour ago
@JanusBahsJacquet Done.
– Alone Programmer
1 hour ago
1
1
That discussion from SE is ridiculous. The writer who answered that question said the "flight crew was liquidated." Isn't that exactly what those horrible, awful people did? They were liquidating everyone. Those silly complaints from native speakers are incredible. They sound ignorant. Is anyone so politically correct as to not agree that many people were in fact liquidated that day?? Geesus. It sure seemed that way to those of us who experienced that day in NYC. The term is strong, so were the acts it refers to!! In fact, it was a bloodbath.
– Lambie
25 mins ago
That discussion from SE is ridiculous. The writer who answered that question said the "flight crew was liquidated." Isn't that exactly what those horrible, awful people did? They were liquidating everyone. Those silly complaints from native speakers are incredible. They sound ignorant. Is anyone so politically correct as to not agree that many people were in fact liquidated that day?? Geesus. It sure seemed that way to those of us who experienced that day in NYC. The term is strong, so were the acts it refers to!! In fact, it was a bloodbath.
– Lambie
25 mins ago
1
1
@Lambie I am not PC at all - still, I disagree. Liquidate is an euphemism used by the people doing the liquidating. Calling a murderous act of terrorism liquidation is inappropriate.
– michael.hor257k
10 mins ago
@Lambie I am not PC at all - still, I disagree. Liquidate is an euphemism used by the people doing the liquidating. Calling a murderous act of terrorism liquidation is inappropriate.
– michael.hor257k
10 mins ago
1
1
@Lambie: "The term is strong" - No, it is dispassionate, the opposite of strong. That's why people are upset.
– Kevin
9 mins ago
@Lambie: "The term is strong" - No, it is dispassionate, the opposite of strong. That's why people are upset.
– Kevin
9 mins ago
 |Â
show 6 more comments
3 Answers
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The term liquidate dates back to the 16th century but its more common contemporary connotations are more recent. As suggested by Etymonline the sense “to kill†probably derives from a Russian usage of the same Latin root.
1570s, of accounts, "to reduce to order, to set out clearly" (a sense now obsolete), from Late Latin or Medieval Latin liquidatus, past participle of liquidare "to melt, make liquid, make clear, clarify," from Latin liquidus "fluid, liquid, moist" (see liquid (adj.)). Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word.
answered 53 mins ago
user240918
20.3k855132
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liquidate verb
liq·ui·date | ˈli-kwə-ˌdÄÂt
liquidated; liquidating
transitive verb
1a
(1) : to determine by agreement or by litigation the precise amount of (indebtedness, damages, or accounts)
(2) : to determine the liabilities (see LIABILITY sense 2) and apportion assets toward discharging the indebtedness of
1b : to settle (a debt) by payment or other settlement
liquidate a loan
2 archaic : to make clear
3 : to do away with especially by killing
was hired to liquidate a certain businessman
4 : to convert (assets) into cash
liquidated his securities
intransitive verb
1 : to liquidate debts, damages, or accounts
2 : to determine liabilities (see LIABILITY sense 2) and apportion assets toward discharging indebtedness
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liquidate
It does appear as a term that would make sense in your context. To my ear, it is not a common usage, though, and evokes meaning through imagining "liquidating assets" in terms of a person. This gets confusing because liquidating assets does not eliminate them entirely, but converts them from physical goods to raw monetary value; how that would apply to a person, I don't see the connection. The dictionary says so, but ... I don't buy it.
A more common word to use here might be eliminate, terminate, or simply remove.
answered 2 hours ago
Ian MacDonald
2,300614
1
liquidating assets has nothing to do with eliminating them; it's selling them off entirely. And "then they were gone" [Agatha Christie]
– Lambie
40 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
If its meaning is equivalent to "kill" how prevalent is using this word among native English speakers?
It's common enough.
It's not on-topic in everyday conversation, thankfully -- so depending on what you read perhaps you've never heard of it -- but e.g. it appears twice in Wikipedia's article on Stalin:
In January 1930, the Politburo approved a measure to liquidate the existence of the kulaks as a class
It is hard for me to reconcile the courtesy and consideration he showed me personally with the ghastly cruelty of his wholesale liquidations.
Perhaps it was originally a euphemism (like "eliminate" ... or "final solution" or similar) -- these days its meaning is plain, unambiguous.
I'm wondering is it correct to use "liquidate" instead of "kill" in that particular situation?
Yes, it's appropriate in-context.
I think it's used in these kinds of context:
Killing individuals:
- Targeted assassination of political opponents
- Also e.g. in when mafiosi kill each other when vying for control
- James Bond and similar fictions
Killing groups:
- Killing political opponents en masse, e.g. death squads, concentration camps
- Genocide, a.k.a. "ethnic cleansing"
Apparently its etymology implies, "remove an obstacle":
Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word.
IMO a "liquidation sale" for example isn't just "convert to cash" it's also "get rid of unwanted stuff".
You might think that using it now (to mean "killing") is insensitive, but it does mean killing now and I don't think there's really a nice way to say it. Yes it puts me in mind of people being killed involuntarily, violently or slowly.
I think it's especially appropriate (i.e. the right meaning) when the killing is extra-legal (e.g. criminal), or pseudo-legal (e.g. totalitarian regimes) -- not war (except civil war), not (accidental) manslaughter, and not even common criminals (e.g. murder associated with robbery or domestic violence).
So it's appropriate to use it to describe the 9/11 hijackers -- i.e. criminals or political assassins, killing people (e.g. the flight crew) as part of a pre-planned plan, removing an "obstacle".
answered 20 mins ago
ChrisW
3,9341322
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
The term liquidate dates back to the 16th century but its more common contemporary connotations are more recent. As suggested by Etymonline the sense “to kill†probably derives from a Russian usage of the same Latin root.
1570s, of accounts, "to reduce to order, to set out clearly" (a sense now obsolete), from Late Latin or Medieval Latin liquidatus, past participle of liquidare "to melt, make liquid, make clear, clarify," from Latin liquidus "fluid, liquid, moist" (see liquid (adj.)). Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word.
answered 53 mins ago
user240918
20.3k855132
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
The term liquidate dates back to the 16th century but its more common contemporary connotations are more recent. As suggested by Etymonline the sense “to kill†probably derives from a Russian usage of the same Latin root.
1570s, of accounts, "to reduce to order, to set out clearly" (a sense now obsolete), from Late Latin or Medieval Latin liquidatus, past participle of liquidare "to melt, make liquid, make clear, clarify," from Latin liquidus "fluid, liquid, moist" (see liquid (adj.)). Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word.
answered 53 mins ago
user240918
20.3k855132
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
The term liquidate dates back to the 16th century but its more common contemporary connotations are more recent. As suggested by Etymonline the sense “to kill†probably derives from a Russian usage of the same Latin root.
1570s, of accounts, "to reduce to order, to set out clearly" (a sense now obsolete), from Late Latin or Medieval Latin liquidatus, past participle of liquidare "to melt, make liquid, make clear, clarify," from Latin liquidus "fluid, liquid, moist" (see liquid (adj.)). Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word.
answered 53 mins ago
user240918
20.3k855132
The term liquidate dates back to the 16th century but its more common contemporary connotations are more recent. As suggested by Etymonline the sense “to kill†probably derives from a Russian usage of the same Latin root.
1570s, of accounts, "to reduce to order, to set out clearly" (a sense now obsolete), from Late Latin or Medieval Latin liquidatus, past participle of liquidare "to melt, make liquid, make clear, clarify," from Latin liquidus "fluid, liquid, moist" (see liquid (adj.)). Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word.
answered 53 mins ago
user240918
20.3k855132
edited 45 mins ago
answered 53 mins ago
user240918
20.3k855132
answered 53 mins ago
user240918
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answered 53 mins ago
user240918
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20.3k855132
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add a comment |Â
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liquidate verb
liq·ui·date | ˈli-kwə-ˌdÄÂt
liquidated; liquidating
transitive verb
1a
(1) : to determine by agreement or by litigation the precise amount of (indebtedness, damages, or accounts)
(2) : to determine the liabilities (see LIABILITY sense 2) and apportion assets toward discharging the indebtedness of
1b : to settle (a debt) by payment or other settlement
liquidate a loan
2 archaic : to make clear
3 : to do away with especially by killing
was hired to liquidate a certain businessman
4 : to convert (assets) into cash
liquidated his securities
intransitive verb
1 : to liquidate debts, damages, or accounts
2 : to determine liabilities (see LIABILITY sense 2) and apportion assets toward discharging indebtedness
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liquidate
It does appear as a term that would make sense in your context. To my ear, it is not a common usage, though, and evokes meaning through imagining "liquidating assets" in terms of a person. This gets confusing because liquidating assets does not eliminate them entirely, but converts them from physical goods to raw monetary value; how that would apply to a person, I don't see the connection. The dictionary says so, but ... I don't buy it.
A more common word to use here might be eliminate, terminate, or simply remove.
answered 2 hours ago
Ian MacDonald
2,300614
1
liquidating assets has nothing to do with eliminating them; it's selling them off entirely. And "then they were gone" [Agatha Christie]
– Lambie
40 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
liquidate verb
liq·ui·date | ˈli-kwə-ˌdÄÂt
liquidated; liquidating
transitive verb
1a
(1) : to determine by agreement or by litigation the precise amount of (indebtedness, damages, or accounts)
(2) : to determine the liabilities (see LIABILITY sense 2) and apportion assets toward discharging the indebtedness of
1b : to settle (a debt) by payment or other settlement
liquidate a loan
2 archaic : to make clear
3 : to do away with especially by killing
was hired to liquidate a certain businessman
4 : to convert (assets) into cash
liquidated his securities
intransitive verb
1 : to liquidate debts, damages, or accounts
2 : to determine liabilities (see LIABILITY sense 2) and apportion assets toward discharging indebtedness
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liquidate
It does appear as a term that would make sense in your context. To my ear, it is not a common usage, though, and evokes meaning through imagining "liquidating assets" in terms of a person. This gets confusing because liquidating assets does not eliminate them entirely, but converts them from physical goods to raw monetary value; how that would apply to a person, I don't see the connection. The dictionary says so, but ... I don't buy it.
A more common word to use here might be eliminate, terminate, or simply remove.
answered 2 hours ago
Ian MacDonald
2,300614
1
liquidating assets has nothing to do with eliminating them; it's selling them off entirely. And "then they were gone" [Agatha Christie]
– Lambie
40 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
liquidate verb
liq·ui·date | ˈli-kwə-ˌdÄÂt
liquidated; liquidating
transitive verb
1a
(1) : to determine by agreement or by litigation the precise amount of (indebtedness, damages, or accounts)
(2) : to determine the liabilities (see LIABILITY sense 2) and apportion assets toward discharging the indebtedness of
1b : to settle (a debt) by payment or other settlement
liquidate a loan
2 archaic : to make clear
3 : to do away with especially by killing
was hired to liquidate a certain businessman
4 : to convert (assets) into cash
liquidated his securities
intransitive verb
1 : to liquidate debts, damages, or accounts
2 : to determine liabilities (see LIABILITY sense 2) and apportion assets toward discharging indebtedness
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liquidate
It does appear as a term that would make sense in your context. To my ear, it is not a common usage, though, and evokes meaning through imagining "liquidating assets" in terms of a person. This gets confusing because liquidating assets does not eliminate them entirely, but converts them from physical goods to raw monetary value; how that would apply to a person, I don't see the connection. The dictionary says so, but ... I don't buy it.
A more common word to use here might be eliminate, terminate, or simply remove.
answered 2 hours ago
Ian MacDonald
2,300614
liquidate verb
liq·ui·date | ˈli-kwə-ˌdÄÂt
liquidated; liquidating
transitive verb
1a
(1) : to determine by agreement or by litigation the precise amount of (indebtedness, damages, or accounts)
(2) : to determine the liabilities (see LIABILITY sense 2) and apportion assets toward discharging the indebtedness of
1b : to settle (a debt) by payment or other settlement
liquidate a loan
2 archaic : to make clear
3 : to do away with especially by killing
was hired to liquidate a certain businessman
4 : to convert (assets) into cash
liquidated his securities
intransitive verb
1 : to liquidate debts, damages, or accounts
2 : to determine liabilities (see LIABILITY sense 2) and apportion assets toward discharging indebtedness
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liquidate
It does appear as a term that would make sense in your context. To my ear, it is not a common usage, though, and evokes meaning through imagining "liquidating assets" in terms of a person. This gets confusing because liquidating assets does not eliminate them entirely, but converts them from physical goods to raw monetary value; how that would apply to a person, I don't see the connection. The dictionary says so, but ... I don't buy it.
A more common word to use here might be eliminate, terminate, or simply remove.
answered 2 hours ago
Ian MacDonald
2,300614
answered 2 hours ago
Ian MacDonald
2,300614
answered 2 hours ago
Ian MacDonald
2,300614
answered 2 hours ago
Ian MacDonald
2,300614
2,300614
1
liquidating assets has nothing to do with eliminating them; it's selling them off entirely. And "then they were gone" [Agatha Christie]
– Lambie
40 mins ago
add a comment |Â
1
liquidating assets has nothing to do with eliminating them; it's selling them off entirely. And "then they were gone" [Agatha Christie]
– Lambie
40 mins ago
1
1
liquidating assets has nothing to do with eliminating them; it's selling them off entirely. And "then they were gone" [Agatha Christie]
– Lambie
40 mins ago
liquidating assets has nothing to do with eliminating them; it's selling them off entirely. And "then they were gone" [Agatha Christie]
– Lambie
40 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
If its meaning is equivalent to "kill" how prevalent is using this word among native English speakers?
It's common enough.
It's not on-topic in everyday conversation, thankfully -- so depending on what you read perhaps you've never heard of it -- but e.g. it appears twice in Wikipedia's article on Stalin:
In January 1930, the Politburo approved a measure to liquidate the existence of the kulaks as a class
It is hard for me to reconcile the courtesy and consideration he showed me personally with the ghastly cruelty of his wholesale liquidations.
Perhaps it was originally a euphemism (like "eliminate" ... or "final solution" or similar) -- these days its meaning is plain, unambiguous.
I'm wondering is it correct to use "liquidate" instead of "kill" in that particular situation?
Yes, it's appropriate in-context.
I think it's used in these kinds of context:
Killing individuals:
- Targeted assassination of political opponents
- Also e.g. in when mafiosi kill each other when vying for control
- James Bond and similar fictions
Killing groups:
- Killing political opponents en masse, e.g. death squads, concentration camps
- Genocide, a.k.a. "ethnic cleansing"
Apparently its etymology implies, "remove an obstacle":
Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word.
IMO a "liquidation sale" for example isn't just "convert to cash" it's also "get rid of unwanted stuff".
You might think that using it now (to mean "killing") is insensitive, but it does mean killing now and I don't think there's really a nice way to say it. Yes it puts me in mind of people being killed involuntarily, violently or slowly.
I think it's especially appropriate (i.e. the right meaning) when the killing is extra-legal (e.g. criminal), or pseudo-legal (e.g. totalitarian regimes) -- not war (except civil war), not (accidental) manslaughter, and not even common criminals (e.g. murder associated with robbery or domestic violence).
So it's appropriate to use it to describe the 9/11 hijackers -- i.e. criminals or political assassins, killing people (e.g. the flight crew) as part of a pre-planned plan, removing an "obstacle".
answered 20 mins ago
ChrisW
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up vote
1
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If its meaning is equivalent to "kill" how prevalent is using this word among native English speakers?
It's common enough.
It's not on-topic in everyday conversation, thankfully -- so depending on what you read perhaps you've never heard of it -- but e.g. it appears twice in Wikipedia's article on Stalin:
In January 1930, the Politburo approved a measure to liquidate the existence of the kulaks as a class
It is hard for me to reconcile the courtesy and consideration he showed me personally with the ghastly cruelty of his wholesale liquidations.
Perhaps it was originally a euphemism (like "eliminate" ... or "final solution" or similar) -- these days its meaning is plain, unambiguous.
I'm wondering is it correct to use "liquidate" instead of "kill" in that particular situation?
Yes, it's appropriate in-context.
I think it's used in these kinds of context:
Killing individuals:
- Targeted assassination of political opponents
- Also e.g. in when mafiosi kill each other when vying for control
- James Bond and similar fictions
Killing groups:
- Killing political opponents en masse, e.g. death squads, concentration camps
- Genocide, a.k.a. "ethnic cleansing"
Apparently its etymology implies, "remove an obstacle":
Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word.
IMO a "liquidation sale" for example isn't just "convert to cash" it's also "get rid of unwanted stuff".
You might think that using it now (to mean "killing") is insensitive, but it does mean killing now and I don't think there's really a nice way to say it. Yes it puts me in mind of people being killed involuntarily, violently or slowly.
I think it's especially appropriate (i.e. the right meaning) when the killing is extra-legal (e.g. criminal), or pseudo-legal (e.g. totalitarian regimes) -- not war (except civil war), not (accidental) manslaughter, and not even common criminals (e.g. murder associated with robbery or domestic violence).
So it's appropriate to use it to describe the 9/11 hijackers -- i.e. criminals or political assassins, killing people (e.g. the flight crew) as part of a pre-planned plan, removing an "obstacle".
answered 20 mins ago
ChrisW
3,9341322
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
If its meaning is equivalent to "kill" how prevalent is using this word among native English speakers?
It's common enough.
It's not on-topic in everyday conversation, thankfully -- so depending on what you read perhaps you've never heard of it -- but e.g. it appears twice in Wikipedia's article on Stalin:
In January 1930, the Politburo approved a measure to liquidate the existence of the kulaks as a class
It is hard for me to reconcile the courtesy and consideration he showed me personally with the ghastly cruelty of his wholesale liquidations.
Perhaps it was originally a euphemism (like "eliminate" ... or "final solution" or similar) -- these days its meaning is plain, unambiguous.
I'm wondering is it correct to use "liquidate" instead of "kill" in that particular situation?
Yes, it's appropriate in-context.
I think it's used in these kinds of context:
Killing individuals:
- Targeted assassination of political opponents
- Also e.g. in when mafiosi kill each other when vying for control
- James Bond and similar fictions
Killing groups:
- Killing political opponents en masse, e.g. death squads, concentration camps
- Genocide, a.k.a. "ethnic cleansing"
Apparently its etymology implies, "remove an obstacle":
Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word.
IMO a "liquidation sale" for example isn't just "convert to cash" it's also "get rid of unwanted stuff".
You might think that using it now (to mean "killing") is insensitive, but it does mean killing now and I don't think there's really a nice way to say it. Yes it puts me in mind of people being killed involuntarily, violently or slowly.
I think it's especially appropriate (i.e. the right meaning) when the killing is extra-legal (e.g. criminal), or pseudo-legal (e.g. totalitarian regimes) -- not war (except civil war), not (accidental) manslaughter, and not even common criminals (e.g. murder associated with robbery or domestic violence).
So it's appropriate to use it to describe the 9/11 hijackers -- i.e. criminals or political assassins, killing people (e.g. the flight crew) as part of a pre-planned plan, removing an "obstacle".
answered 20 mins ago
ChrisW
3,9341322
If its meaning is equivalent to "kill" how prevalent is using this word among native English speakers?
It's common enough.
It's not on-topic in everyday conversation, thankfully -- so depending on what you read perhaps you've never heard of it -- but e.g. it appears twice in Wikipedia's article on Stalin:
In January 1930, the Politburo approved a measure to liquidate the existence of the kulaks as a class
It is hard for me to reconcile the courtesy and consideration he showed me personally with the ghastly cruelty of his wholesale liquidations.
Perhaps it was originally a euphemism (like "eliminate" ... or "final solution" or similar) -- these days its meaning is plain, unambiguous.
I'm wondering is it correct to use "liquidate" instead of "kill" in that particular situation?
Yes, it's appropriate in-context.
I think it's used in these kinds of context:
Killing individuals:
- Targeted assassination of political opponents
- Also e.g. in when mafiosi kill each other when vying for control
- James Bond and similar fictions
Killing groups:
- Killing political opponents en masse, e.g. death squads, concentration camps
- Genocide, a.k.a. "ethnic cleansing"
Apparently its etymology implies, "remove an obstacle":
Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word.
IMO a "liquidation sale" for example isn't just "convert to cash" it's also "get rid of unwanted stuff".
You might think that using it now (to mean "killing") is insensitive, but it does mean killing now and I don't think there's really a nice way to say it. Yes it puts me in mind of people being killed involuntarily, violently or slowly.
I think it's especially appropriate (i.e. the right meaning) when the killing is extra-legal (e.g. criminal), or pseudo-legal (e.g. totalitarian regimes) -- not war (except civil war), not (accidental) manslaughter, and not even common criminals (e.g. murder associated with robbery or domestic violence).
So it's appropriate to use it to describe the 9/11 hijackers -- i.e. criminals or political assassins, killing people (e.g. the flight crew) as part of a pre-planned plan, removing an "obstacle".
answered 20 mins ago
ChrisW
3,9341322
edited 15 mins ago
answered 20 mins ago
ChrisW
3,9341322
answered 20 mins ago
ChrisW
3,9341322
answered 20 mins ago
ChrisW
3,9341322
3,9341322
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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2
Welcome to EL&U. The major dictionaries all include a meaning of liquidate that means to destroy or eliminate someone or something. If the dictionaries you checked or other research you attempted have been insufficient, please edit your post to explain why.
– choster
2 hours ago
1
@JanusBahsJacquet Done.
– Alone Programmer
1 hour ago
1
That discussion from SE is ridiculous. The writer who answered that question said the "flight crew was liquidated." Isn't that exactly what those horrible, awful people did? They were liquidating everyone. Those silly complaints from native speakers are incredible. They sound ignorant. Is anyone so politically correct as to not agree that many people were in fact liquidated that day?? Geesus. It sure seemed that way to those of us who experienced that day in NYC. The term is strong, so were the acts it refers to!! In fact, it was a bloodbath.
– Lambie
25 mins ago
1
@Lambie I am not PC at all - still, I disagree. Liquidate is an euphemism used by the people doing the liquidating. Calling a murderous act of terrorism liquidation is inappropriate.
– michael.hor257k
10 mins ago
1
@Lambie: "The term is strong" - No, it is dispassionate, the opposite of strong. That's why people are upset.
– Kevin
9 mins ago