Over the last two years, writers have struggled with the best way to identify what Hamas did in Israel on October 7, 2023. In my own writing, I have used the words “attack,” “assault,” “massacre,” “slaughter,” and “pogrom.” Others have opted for “incursion,” “invasion,” “atrocity,” “raid,” and “siege.” However, none of these terms captures the horror of that day. Because the usual nouns and adjectives fail, we should refer to it simply as October 7.

Two examples from American history illustrate how the enormity of an attack can exceed normal signifiers – Pearl Harbor and September 11.

The day after Japanese attack on the U.S. at Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt famously said that “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

However, no one referred to the attack as “December 7.” Instead, it became known simply as “Pearl Harbor.” This phenomenon is known as........

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