Hijacking the term "Civil War"

[Rebel_Giratina]

As an ACW buff who is also a "nerd" in the more traditional sense, I do have to admit that seeing all those Marvel Civil War books *do* throw me for a loop.

 

[E_just_E]

I'm referring to if someone said "The Civil War," as today we'd automatically think of the 1861-1865 conflict when those words were used.

Depends on the context. Really.

 

[Specster]

If you'd said "Civil War" to an educated person of the 1860s, my bet is that they would first think of the Roman Civil War first, and then possibly the English Civil War after that.

That was my thought as well, without a prefix, it could mean many hard fought wars which came before and after the American experience.

 

[Specster]

Living in the USA, nothing makes me cringe quite as much as the closing words of the Runs N Roses song "Civil War" when Rose state: (and its so absurd I could not make it up), "...what so civil about war anyways".

Here is your sign.

 

[MattL]

The US Civil War does not have exclusive rights to the term "civil war"

 

[James B White]

That was my thought as well, without a prefix, it could mean many hard fought wars which came before and after the American experience.

I agree with that, and it still does. But were those other wars the first thought on educated people's minds, in the midst of a domestic civil war? That's what I doubt.