Media reporters, particularly of the broadcast stripe, often misuse the word gentleman, in referring to criminals or terrorists. A man who is EVIDENTLY the perpetrator of a crime, as is the case of the brothers who committed the Boston Marathon bombings and related murders––whether the crime has already been proven at trial or not––ought not to be named in speech or writing by a designation necessarily comporting a measure of politeness, elevation, or deference toward the referent. The stylistically appropriate word in such instances is man, not gentleman.

MICHAEL SHAPIRO