alleged attack

Question

A 12-year-old girl has been charged in connection with an alleged attack on another girl.HiWhat is the meaning of alleged attack,please?:)

Pieanne · Accepted Answer

The attack was reported, but there's no proof for it. It's based on hearsay.

MrPedantic · Answer

Also, in news reporting, you always use "alleged" where an incident is (or may be) the subject of legal proceedings.

For instance, if MissP is charged with assaulting a grammarian, you use "alleged" and "allegedly" when reporting the offence in a newspaper or on a website:

"MissP allegedly struck MrQ over the head with a copy of the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language."

"MissP is alleged to have called MrQ 'a prescriptivistic dolt'."

"At the time of the alleged attack, MrQ was watering his prize chrysanthemums."

"MrQ is a prescriptivistic dolt – allegedly."

If a newspaper were simply to say "MissP struck MrQ over the head", before the case had been decided, MissP might take legal action against the paper.

MrP

Davkett · Answer

MrPedantic
"At the time of the alleged attack, MrQ was watering his prize chrysanthemums."

It was caught on camera:

Pieanne · Answer

Is that you, Davkett?  <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Davkett · Answer

Just a photo off the Internet, (though there might be a bit of a resemblance if he were three feet shorter. ..but you'd then see only the top of my head showing above those bushes.)

Pieanne · Answer

Lol!  Had it been me, you'd only have seen the bushes.

alleged attack

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions