I think the word "threat" necessarily looks into the intention of the person committing the act. I think "unintentional threat" is a nonsense. Like a dark shade of the whitest white.
But, lawyers being what they are, I'm sure there will be some who argue that a threat is in the eye of the beholder, and has nothing to do with the state of mind of the person issuing the threat. I'm not in that camp.
The online dictionaries support my point of view, for the word "threat."
- a declaration of an
intention or determination to inflict punishment, injury, etc
- an expression of
intention to inflict evil, injury, or damage
- Communicated
intent to inflict harm or damage to a person or property
So, what about "provoke"?
- To bring about
deliberately; induce: provoke a fight
- to stir up
purposely (provoke a fight)
Can a person unintentionally provoke a fight? Does that even make sense in the English language?
One bright day, in the middle of the night
Two dead men got up to fight
Back to back they faced each other
Drew their swords, and shot each other
The deaf policeman head the noise
And came to save the two dead boys
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