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  • an attack

    Since the attentats of 2001, the Middle East has occupied the front of the world-political stage -- perry anderson

    December 29, 2007

  • He's certainly using it in that sense but it smacks of being a too-cleverism. Attentat means bomb.

    December 29, 2007

  • I've heard 'Attentat' used in German to mean 'terrorist attack'. But I agree that it doesn't work in English, in part because of the awkwardness of that plural.

    December 29, 2007

  • There's attentato in Italian meaning 'attack' and of course English attempt from the same roots. I'd heard this word a couple of times prior to this citation where it was used to mean booby-trap bomb and logic bomb. My main beef is with the nuances. If he's talking about the attacks of 11 September 2001, attentats is a pithy, flat and awkward choice of word. I find the dysphemism, when he is talking about a critical and emotionally-charged moment in modern history, to be unfortunate.

    December 29, 2007

  • Related to the attacks of September 11th, see once-m (I don't have a separate entry for 'once-s').

    December 29, 2007