Boston Marathon Bombing: Two Dozen Vocabulary and Cultural Concepts

As the world follows the developing news of the police hunt for the men who triggered two bombs at Monday’s Boston Marathon, a number of expressions have been used in the media.  This list is meant to help you understand the breaking reports.

1. IED (improvised explosive device) = home-made bomb used in other ways than traditional military applications

pressure cooker (source: beprepared.com)

2. shrapnel = pieces of metal which fly out from an explosion

3. pressure cooker = a metal pot that seals completely shut and cooks food by pressure heat

4. amputation = cutting off a body part (usually an arm or leg)

5. tourniquet = a cloth or other material used to temporarily stop blood flow of an injury and prevent blood loss

6. a suspect = someone the police believe took part in a crime

7. a person of interest = a person the police want to talk to about a crime (not necessarily a suspect)

8. police hotline = a direct, toll-free number to call to give information to the police (in this case, the number was 800-CALL-FBI)

9. Chechnya = southwestern region of Russia populated by 1 million ethnic Chechen people who are culturally Muslim and seeking to separate from Russia

10. Kyrgyzstan = former state of the USSR in central Asia, west of China and south of Kazakhstan (where the two suspects were born)

11. radicalized = made radical; influenced to have extreme political or religious beliefs

Boston, Massachusetts (source: Wikipedia)

12. sleeper cell = a non-active unit of  a secret organization, waiting to be called into action by remote leadership

13. lone wolves = people acting on their own, without connection to a wider organization

14. SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team = law enforcement unit using light military-style weapons and specialized tactics

15. K-9 unit = a police unit that uses dogs for their attack skills and their smelling skills.  The name “canine” (the scientific Latin word for “dog”) is pronounced K-9.

16. a booby trap = bomb which is wired to explode when someone enters the space

17. a trip wire = a wire which causes a bomb to explode when it is (unknowingly) pulled

18. a man-hunt = when police are actively searching for someone

Boston skyline (source: Wikipedia)

19. a car-jacking = taking over a vehicle by force (sometimes taking the driver along)

20. to bail out = to leave suddenly, to abandon

21. a shoot-out = a gun fight

22. on lock-down = a situation where police restrict movement of citizens for their own safety

23. to shelter in place = to stay where you are, to not go out because of safety concerns

24. to evacuate = to remove people from a dangerous area