3 ms·
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
by 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 agoI 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").