re: #135 J.S.

yeah. in the States it’s “assault and battery.” the assault part refers to the verbal threat of violence, while the battery part to the actual act of violence…(hitting someone, for example.)

No. Assault is an action toward another person, whether or not any contact is made, and perhaps not even involving harmful intent. Knocking someone’s hat off is assault (and perhaps battery too). Intentionally swerving your car toward a pedestrian or an 18-wheeler is assault. Extending your middle finger isn’t.

Much of what people are inclined to call a verbal assault these days used to be called cursing, or public vulgarity, and typically was a misdemeanor violation of local or state laws. Calling such speech assault does violence to language. Now, if the speech involved a credible threat to serious bodily harm, it might qualify as assault. Ex, Prepare to die, mofo.