the.com/deterrent
A threat so convincing you never have to carry it out.
means Something that discourages an action by making the consequences of doing it seem worse than the benefit of not doing it.
from From Latin deterrere — de- ('away') plus terrere ('to frighten') — the same terrere that gives us 'terror' and 'terrify.' So a deterrent is, at its root, simply a thing that scares you off, dressed up in the calmer vocabulary of strategy and policy.
- paradox
- works best when never used
- nuclear version
- mutually assured destruction, politely called peacekeeping
- fine print
- only deters rational actors
- everyday form
- a sign that says beware of dog