Trend Watch

Torture

The release of a Senate report on CIA interrogations ...

When:

Lookups spiked on December 10, 2014.

Why:

The release of a summary of the Senate report on CIA interrogations renewed a debate about the validity and value of the torture of suspected terrorists. The euphemism "enhanced interrogation techniques" is often used by government officials, but many news outlets, including the New York Times, use the word torture.

Torture means "the act of causing severe physical pain as a form of punishment or as a way to force someone to do or say something." It comes from the Latin word meaning "to twist."

In addition to torture, the words redact and enhanced, both also used in reporting on this story, were also looked up in large numbers.


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