Not a 'Tragedy'- Why Words Matter

When horrible things happen to people, one word is regularly used by news-gatherers to describe the unfolding events: 'Tragedy'. The Orlando massacre or the murder of Jo Cox MP were 'tragedies', apparently, according to some newspapers and the BBC news. Sorry, No, they weren't, and we shouldn't say they were. Now, this might be caused by sloppy English teaching when these news-people were wending their ways through school, but they (and we) shouldn't use that word to describe those events. Why?

2016: A Quick Look Back at a Tumultuous Year

January: In a surprise move at a press conference, Donald Trump’s hair attacked him in a frantic bid to save humanity. The resulting scuffle led to Trump punching himself in the face and becoming concussed, before claiming it was all the fault of immigrant hairpieces coming in from Mexico. After being hospitalised, he abandoned all hope of getting the Republican nomination, declaring the world was not good enough for him, and began planning a private space mission to the dark side of the Sun for reasons best left unexplained.