> Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase describing punishment which is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the condemned person
You don't really think that an HTML page inflicts any kind of suffering or pain on someone, do you? First, I don't even think this is 'punishment': it appears to be more focused on clarifying the issue to the public and ensuring Apple doesn't try to twist the story. Secondly, there's absolutely no way it's cruel. It may be unusual, though, and I'm curious about that too.
I'm sorry you took such offence at me using "cruel and unusual" as a turn of phrase, rather than to mean it's dictionary definition. I'll admit I'll happily use it in conversation - but perhaps I should have been more careful online where things are taken somewhat more literally.
I do feel that forcing Apple to link to a competitor, and advertise for them, is a form of punishment though.
It was quite genuine, I didn't mean to offend or upset. Lesson learnt!
You don't mention this, but I didn't to edit my original post, as i'm not a big fan of editing post content - but rather adding as part of the conversation.
He didn't "use the phrase wrong"; he communicated his meaning effectively. Dictionaries (of English; there is no acadamie anglaise) consist of observations, not rulings; if a dictionary disagrees with usage, it is the dictionary that is wrong.
The phrase "cruel and unusual punishment" is typically used when someone is trying to argue that a punishment should be illegal. A legalistic reply should be expected.
