accident vs incident

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keannu

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I've always thought "accident" is something unintended such as "car accident", while "incident" is something intended such as "homocide incident". What do you think?
 

viettran

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I don't think so. While it's true that accident is unintentional, incident refers to a particular happenin. I may or may not happen by chance.
 

emsr2d2

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I don't think so. While it's true that an accident is unintentional, an incident refers to a particular happening. It may or may not happen by chance.

viettran, please remember to state that you are not a teacher at the beginning of each post.

Basically, an accident can also be an incident. An incident might refer to an accident.

The M25 motorway is closed tonight after a serious incident - at 9pm there was an accident involving 23 cars.
 

HanibalII

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An 'incident' is more so the event that occurs, while an 'accident' is a very basic description of the event.

The definition of 'incident' is: An event or occurrence.
The definition of 'accident' is: An unfortunate incident (or event) that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.
 

keannu

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Okay, it seems "incident" is a general term, whether it's intentional or unintentional, while "accident" is unitentional. My idea has been wrong.
So for intentional ones like a homicide completely planned and intended by a killer, can we just say "The homicide was an intentional incident"?
 

HanibalII

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Okay, it seems "incident" is a general term, whether it's intentional or unintentional, while "accident" is unitentional. My idea has been wrong.
So for intentional ones like a homicide completely planned and intended by a killer, can we just say "The homicide was an intentional incident"?

The word homicide itself implies intentional. So with your sentence, it becomes redundant.

The definition of 'homicide' is: The deliberate and unlawful killing of one person by another; murder.
 

Tdol

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So for intentional ones like a homicide completely planned and intended by a killer, can we just say "The homicide was an intentional incident"?
It's not a natural sentence for me. You could say that a killing was intentional, but adding incident doesn't improve things IMO.
 

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emsr2d2

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SoothingDave

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Exactly. If a dead body is found, the "homicide" unit investigates. That doesn't mean someone will be charged with murder or manslaughter.

On the other hand, I could by my negligence kill someone with my car and though intent was lacking, I could still be charged with vehicular homicide.
 
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