collateral damage

collateral damage
   killing or wounding civilians by mistake
   Literally, damage running alongside:
   What an odd term, he thought. Collateral damage. What an off-hand way of condemning people whom fate had selected to be in the wrong place. (Clancy, 1989)

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • Collateral Damage — Título Daño colateral (España, Colombia y Perú) Riesgos colaterales (Argentina) Ficha técnica Dirección Andrew Davis …   Wikipedia Español

  • collateral damage — Collateral Col*lat er*al, a. [LL. collateralis; col + lateralis lateral. See {Lateral}.] 1. Coming from, being on, or directed toward, the side; as, collateral pressure. Collateral light. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. Acting in an indirect way. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • collateral damage — Accidental or unintended damage or casualties are collateral damage …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • Collateral Damage — bezeichnet Collateral Damage – Zeit der Vergeltung, einen Film Begleitschaden, Militärbegriff Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit demselben Wort bezeichneter Begriffe …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • collateral damage — is a heavily disguised technical term, in effect a euphemism, used by the military and by politicians for civilian casualties in war. It is based on a sense of collateral (itself derived from Latin latus ‘side’) dating from Chaucer, ‘lying aside… …   Modern English usage

  • collateral damage — by 1873 in legal cases; in modern use, generally a euphemism for the coincidental killing of civilians, U.S. coinage, c.1968, at first generally with reference to nuclear weapons …   Etymology dictionary

  • Collateral damage — For other uses, see Collateral damage (disambiguation). Collateral damage is damage to people or property that is unintended or incidental to the intended outcome.[1] The phrase is prevalently used as an euphemism for civilian casualties of a… …   Wikipedia

  • collateral damage — N UNCOUNT Collateral damage is accidental injury to non military people or damage to non military buildings which occurs during a military operation. To minimize collateral damage maximum precision in bombing was required …   English dictionary

  • collateral damage —    Accidental or unintended damage or casualties are collateral damage.   (Dorking School Dictionary) …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • Collateral damage —   Accidental or unintended damage or casualties are collateral damage …   Dictionary of English idioms

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