The current code word in heavy use by news agencies to describe violent, terroristic actions, or sectarian violence, or any militance by Islamic extremists is “Restive“. It’s just been pointed out to me that in paraphrasing some news accounts that I used it as well. Time to fix that – strikethrough and put the proper phrase in place.
From Dictionary.com:
RESTIVE \RES-tiv\, adjective:
1. Impatient under restriction, delay, coercion, or opposition; resisting control.
2. Unwilling to go on; obstinate in refusing to move forward; stubborn.He turned restive at the least attempt at coercion.
— Ouida, Held in BondageBroadcasters, along with the commercial gambling industry, have grown increasingly restive under the advertising prohibition.
— Linda Greenhouse, “Justices Strike Down Ban on Casino Gambling Ads”, New York Times, June 15, 1999The people remarked with awe and wonder that the beasts which were to drag him to the gallows became restive, and went back.
— Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James IIHe proved as ready a scholar as he had been indocile and restive to the pedant who held the office of his tutor.
— William Godwin, Caleb WilliamsRestive comes from Medieval French restif, from rester, “to remain,” ultimately from Latin restare, “to stand back, to remain behind,” from re-, “back” + stare, “to stand.”
Only the deluded consider violent terrorists and murderous sectarian battles as “restiveness” or “Restive”.
I edited the entries that had the word restive in it, but only found the word in quotes from newspapers in six articles, so I left those in place. I did use the term in one article, which is disturbing to me, since real humans dieing is not “restive”. Media agitprop soaks in after a while it seems.
