Heroes?

[andy-hughes]

I notice as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan grind inexoribly on, and the death toll rises, there is an interesting use of the word 'hero' in the media.

I understand a 'hero' to be someone who has carried out a specific act of bravery, but lately, the adjective seems to be being applied to every single armed forces fatality.

I do not for one moment wish to minimise the tragedy of deaths in these counttries, but, if viewed objectively and without attendent emotion and 'patriotism', these individuals have effectively died doing their jobs, and are not therefore 'heroes' in the true sense of the word.

Therefore, if someone does carry out an act of true heroism, which adjective will the media use to describe them?

[marwel7]

Since when do newspapers care about the correct use of words.They are only concerned with being emotive and sensationalism.
One ofmy bugbears is the use of the word star for every actor who appears in a soap for a few seconds.

[R1Geezer]

Your observations are valid but you'll never stop the meeja trying to exagerate everything. Same thing happens with child deaths, now they are always "angels".