Question to the lawyers:

[OldEurope]

Is it a crime in the USA to invoke for murder?
In an interview in a German radio station I heard Schwarzenegger say:
" And now Davies has to be terminated! "
Is it just me, or do you too consider this as a serious threat to Davies´life?

[DoveTurnedHawk]

1. It's an Obvious Figure of Speech

But you knew that, didn't you?

DTH

[OldEurope]

2. No native speaker , so thank you for clarification!

:hi:

[DoveTurnedHawk]

3. OK

Any time. In English, "terminate" also refers to the action of firing someone from a job.

DTH

[0rganism]

5. Not so much a figure of speech as a figure of circumstance

If anyone BUT Schwarzenegger said this in the current context of the recall election, then yes it could be construed as a threat. Arnold has considerable leeway to say things about others that the non-movie-star candidates do not. His "head in the toilet" comment to Arianna, for instance, would mean instant campaign death for anyone who hadn't made a popular movie in which he stuck a woman's head in a toilet.

[OldEurope]

6. As I recall the film, the Terminator was sent to kill someone,

right? So when the "Terminator" says, he wanted someone to be terminated, I understood this allusion as a threat.
But ok, I´m not American, so I´m probably wrong.

:dunce:

[KharmaTrain]

4. Arnie's Full Of One-Liners

And a lot of cliches either using the names or lines (of course only one or two syllables) from his movies...or he uses them from others.

No, Arnie didn't mean physical harm to Gov. Davis, he's just letting his political hatchetmen destroy our electoral system.

Cheers