Re: "suicide"

[bob@MEGALITH.RATTLESNAKE.COM]

   The Oxford English Dictionary defines the *noun* suicide as:

   One who dies by his own hand; one who commits self-murder. Also, one who
   attempts or has a tendency to commit suicide.

The OED is wrong here, at least for the current era.  Nowadays, in
middle class, educated conventional use, a `suicide' (the noun) refers
to one who succeeds in dying.  A person with tendencies towards
committing suicide is `suicidal'; a person who has tried but did not
die is some who `attempted to commit suicide'.

Wittgenstein was suicidal, but not a suicide.

--

    Robert J. Chassell               bob@gnu.ai.mit.edu
    25 Rattlesnake Mountain Road     bob@rattlesnake.com
    Stockbridge, MA 01262-0693 USA   (413) 298-4725