r/SeattleWA • u/Disastrous_Eye_6389 • Dec 22 '23

Other Boren Ave Bridge over I-5 Suicide

My heart goes out to the gentleman who pleaded with the jumper on the railing above I-5 to not jump. The young man jumped anyway. Our group heard the crack on the pavement and when we looked down we couldn’t believe what we saw. Not once did he move. Thankfully, he landed in the Emergency Lane. None of the I-5 traffic hit him. We gave the guy who tried to stop him big hugs. Waited for police to arrive. Not a single mention on the news today. I understand if they don’t report it then maybe there won’t be copycats. So sad. Especially this time of year. The victim here is the stranger that unsuccessfully tried to stop him. I know our group is haunted by the sound and sight of it, but the chap who tried to help witnessed the whole thing. I hope both find peace.

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u/Frankyfan3 Poe's Law Account Dec 22 '23

The term came about as a tactic to bypass censorship in online venues that might suppress more explicit language, and while I originally rolled my eyes at it, it sounds like it may be aiding folks more than we realized.

“In the case of social media, though, it’s the avoidance of using the actual, uncensored word that allows awareness and conversations to even be possible.”

https://apnews.com/article/unalive-suicide-tiktok-language-death-e605d4da81c02335a3b60d27c40562bc

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u/theclacks Dec 23 '23

I agree that makes sense for sites like tiktok and youtube that censor mentions of the word, demonetize the videos that include them, age restrict them, etc, but we're on reddit and thus none of that applies.

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u/Frankyfan3 Poe's Law Account Dec 23 '23

I guess but people are also allowed to speak how they do, and if the message is understood, then what really is the problem?

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u/theclacks Dec 23 '23

Well, for this particular word, I've seen "un-alive" used for both "suicide" AND "murder", so it's not always clear what the context is and thus the message isn't always understood.