No, she wasn't
The headline reads
Russia says Moscow bomber was teenage "Black Widow"But that sobriquet is reserved for women who marry for money and then kill their husbands. Or possibly - possibly - money isn't involved. But still, it's the whole "killing their mate" thing that sparks the name "Black Widow".
This child was a widow who killed other people. It's not a good thing to do (well, nor is the other!), but it's not being a "Black Widow".
I was genuinely curious about that - was this a murder gone wrong, a sort of attempt to hide the real motive? But no. It's just a figure of speech gone wrong...
4 Comments:
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At 11:35 PM, April 02, 2010
incunabular had this to say...
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At 12:20 AM, April 03, 2010
The Ridger, FCD had this to say...
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At 10:33 AM, April 03, 2010
Q. Pheevr had this to say...
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At 6:35 PM, April 03, 2010
The Ridger, FCD had this to say...
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<-- Older Post ^ Home Newer Post -->I agree that the definition you give is the standard one.
But I have been hearing this (in Russian anyways) for about 8 years to mean a woman whose husband was killed in conflict and subsequently decided to become a martyr themselves. I'm not sure who originated this. They are actual widows, so that part makes sense. I assume the "black" either has to do with their mourning, or the Russian practice of using the word "black" to mean "bad."
Russians do say that - I think some of it also has to with dress, too.
But Reuters shouldn't just blithely repeat it like it doesn't have an English meaning already. It's confusing!
This article by Olivia Ward, in today's Toronto Star, uses "Black Widows" as a proper name for a particular organization. If that's what they're called, then Reuters can't really be blamed for using the name, even if it is at odds with the ordinary idiomatic sense of the term in English.
That's true.
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