3 ms·

I'm going to allege that this is used by the press to avoid libel suits.

• russell 18y ago
  Not in the US. Libel is severely restricted esp. against the press. Successful suits are extremely rare. "Allegedly" was thrown in to prevent the defense in a trial from successfully raising the issue that the media biased the jury pool against the defendant.
  • time_management 18y ago
    I feel like "allegedly" is one of those euphemisms that swung full circle and became a dysphemism. If you allegedly did something, it's really bad. I think the saddest case of the euphemism 180 is the word "lady". In the word's true sense, it's a huge compliment for a woman to be called a "lady", but it has been cheapened by the (originally ironic or euphemistic) diminutive and insulting uses ("bag lady", "dragon lady", "cleaning lady").
    • ars 18y ago
      It's called the "euphemism treadmill".
      • khafra 18y ago
        Or the "sliding of the signified under the signifier" if you lean toward semiotics.