micdotcom:Everyone needs to stop calling the Baltimore rioters “thugs” A thug is simply defined as “
micdotcom:Everyone needs to stop calling the Baltimore rioters “thugs” A thug is simply defined as “a violent criminal,” or “a cruel or vicious ruffian, robber or murderer.” Words, of course, have literal definitions. But colloquial usage, more often than not, colors the meaning for the words people use. Anyone can be a thug, but that’s not how the word gets deployed. -- source link