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terminate with extreme prejudice

verb

Etymology

First appears c. 1969. Derives from US military intelligence and CIA documents, in news coverage of the Green Beret Case, and further popularized in the movie Apocalypse Now (1979). A play on the term terminate with prejudice when an employee’s employment is terminated, meaning will not rehire employee to same position in future (i.e., prejudiced against rehiring), hence terminate definitively, i.e., kill.

Definitions

  1. To murder

    To murder; to assassinate.

    • The government ordered the spies to be terminated with extreme prejudice: they did not want them to expose what they knew in a public trial.
    • ...suggested that he either be isolated or ‘terminated with extreme prejudice.’ This term is said to be an intelligence euphemism for execution.
    • Colonel Lucas: ... When you find the Colonel, infiltrate his team by whatever means available and terminate the Colonel's command. Willard: Terminate the Colonel? ... Civilian: Terminate with extreme prejudice.

The neighborhood

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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA