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english question

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
is there a term for hired assassins who work in twos where one drives the motorbike and the other shoots the hit? It's for my translation of a colombian literature extract and i understand it i'm just not aware of the best way to put it into english! i might have to give up and put it as a footnote but if there is a term for it...

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A hit man?

    The definition of that is: A man hired by a crime syndicate as a professional killer.

    Is that of any use?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yep, it's more the sense of it being on a motorbike that i need to get across. it's one of those things where i feel there should be a phrase for it but im damned if i can think of it. i may need to footnote it.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That's just a method of getting the hit, rather than a specific role in itself. The term hitman would apply.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Drive by shooting?
    Get away driver?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not really - it's only been common in Italy in Europe and certainly not in the UK so I don't think there has ever been a specific term coined for it - drive by is the closest but doesn't really capture what it is.

    Matt, one of our freelancers wrote Boys Kills Man about child assassins in Columbia - I could drop him an email to see if he came across a term in his research
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    Teh_GerbilTeh_Gerbil Posts: 13,332 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    There possibly is, but I cannot remember it. I watched a show about that style of killing, and can't remember. Damn it.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jim V wrote: »
    Matt, one of our freelancers wrote Boys Kills Man about child assassins in Columbia
    Really? I'd be interested in knowing more about this. I just googled it and found it's a novel. What did he do for research, did he go there? Does he have any more work on the subject?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not sure but if you take a look at http://www.mattwhyman.com there's more info on there and you can contact him directly. His blurb from the website about the tone and intention behind the book is -

    "In writing Boy Kills Man, I didn't set out to purposely shock or disturb. Nor did I write for a specific age group. I just wanted to tell a story as honestly as I could, as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old assassin - living in a part of our world where this really happens.

    For Shorty, a gun provides a purpose and earns him respect. This may make uneasy reading, and invite accusations of glamorising violence, but you have to ask why anyone in this situation would be drawn to pick up a gun in the first place. Once such a weapon is in his possession, however, it becomes like a terminal disease. He lives with it as best he can, knowing it'll get him in the end.

    Boy Kills Man isn't a novel to preach that 'guns are bad', and nor is Shorty particularly sorry for what he does. Despite this, I hope the reader is left with sympathy and affection for Shorty, and then question why that is."

    As to the original question Roo - sicario was the only word Matt knew which just meant child assassin
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thank you very much Jim :)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    hmm child assassin? that not something that's been thrown up in all of the poeple i've asked, most times it has just referred to an assassin. interesting though, i'll keep that in mind.
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