this is a massacre

[alpacinou]

Hello everyone,

Can I say that the cornavirus pandemic is "a massacre without bloodletting"? What if I say this? Does it work?

The recent cornavirus pandemic is a massacre without bloodletting.

 

[GoesStation]

I wouldn't. A massacre is perpetrated by an organized entity. An epidemic is a pathogen spreading naturally through a population.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Goes makes a good point. It probably also depends a little bit on the context.

 

[alpacinou]

But I hear on the news they liken the virus to an army. They say cities have become war zones.

If we liken it to an army, then maybe we could say a massacre was perpetrated.

 

[jutfrank]

You can by all means use the metaphor of a massacre to describe the pandemic but that doesn't mean it's a good metaphor.

So the question shouldn't really be Does it work? but rather How well do you think it works?

My answer is: not especially well.