I was dismayed by the use of the word “choking” in the Jan. 9 Press Herald story “Domestic violence survivors protest Maine lawmaker’s reelection.”
Choking is accidental: the throat is accidentally obstructed by something (a piece of food, for example) that limits the passage of air to the lungs. Strangling, however, is deliberate: someone constricts the neck of another person to cut off air supply.
Rep. Lucas Lanigan, R-Sanford, is not accused of “choking” his wife; he is accused of deliberately strangling her.
Deborah Gould
Brunswick
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