The Pathology of 'Word Hunting' Brought by Internet Vigilantes: What the Rampage of the 'Target-Hitting Police' Left Behind

The spread of the internet provided a forum for speech where everyone could freely express their opinions. However, at the same time, it became the cause of 'internet vigilantes' (word police) who end up focusing on 'nitpicking words' completely unrelated to the main argument, destroying community dialogue.

The ultimate symbol of this is the 'Target-Hitting Police' (Mato wo Eru Keisatsu), which saw explosive growth after the 2010s.

While unraveling the academic background and the history of rich expressions in past media, I will summarize the structure and pathology of the 'abnormal word hunting' they have brought into the modern discourse space.

1. Once upon a time, 'Mato wo Eru' (to hit the target) was a phrase of the highest intelligence and dignity

In the modern internet, the discourse that 'Mato wo Eru is a misuse' has become established, but looking back at history, a completely different landscape emerges. From the 1980s to the 90s, 'Mato wo Eru' functioned as the mainstream and natural Japanese expression among Japanese media and intellectuals.

The definitive proof of this is the scripts of television programs from that time.

• NHK puppet show 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' (1982-) The protagonist, Liu Bei Xuande, who is depicted as a 'mass of virtue and culture' in the work, naturally used the phrase 'Mato wo Eteiru' (hitting the target) in his dialogue.

• NHK Educational 'Tensai Terebi-kun' anime 'Gene Diver' (1994-) The program personality character Till-ny-Nog, who symbolizes the highest 'intelligence and logic' in the work, left behind the line, 'For now, what Kotetsu says is likely the most on target (Mato wo Eteiru).'.

In NHK programs, which are thoroughly scrutinized by professional writers and watched by everyone from children to adults across the country, 'Mato wo Eru' was chosen as the language of the most intelligent characters and dignified protagonists. At the time, 'Mato wo Iru' (to shoot the target) was actually the minor usage, and society as a whole shared 'Mato wo Eru' as a phrase with legitimate citizenship.

2. The 2010s: The transformation of internet infrastructure and the explosion of 'Word Police'

Even in the early internet era of the 2000s (the era of underground bulletin boards like 2channel), there were groups that pointed out misuses, but they lived in specialized threads (cages) and rarely caused actual harm to the general discourse space.

However, after the 2010s, the tide changed with the explosive spread of smartphones and SNS (Twitter, Yahoo Comments, etc.). With the birth of platforms that allow cross-searching of specific keywords, 'word police' began to intrude into general discussion forums with muddy feet.

From here, the abnormal 'word hunting' begins.

Even in threads of 'profound main arguments' such as wartime history, politics, or serious social issues, where one should respect each other and carefully read the context, they do not read the room at all. The moment they find the four characters 'Mato wo Eru', their switch flips, and completely ignoring the content of the discussion, they...

3. The eerie pathology of the 'impossibility of dialogue'

The most abnormal feature of the word police is that no matter how perfectly they are refuted with logic, they abandon all thought and repeat the same claim like a broken record.

There is a case where a user, in response to the word police's claim that 'the target is not something you get,' conceded a step and presented the time-honored idiom 'Seikoku wo Eru' (to get the bullseye), which originates from Chinese classics (such as the 'Book of Rites'), showing historical and academic grounds.

Normally, if one were confronted with such a decisive blow, it would be reasonable to admit one's ignorance and withdraw from the discussion. However, they...

For them, the goal is not the 'protection of correct Japanese.' Because they cannot compete with the knowledge required for the main argument, their only goal is 'mounting'—using a handful of trivia they have picked up as a weapon to perform the role of a 'smart person pointing out others' mistakes' and look down on others.

Without thinking for themselves or possessing the ability to interpret context, their behavior of attacking others like mere symbols carried a madness and eeriness that made dialogue impossible. They convinced themselves they were 'kind mentors,' and it was only when they were finally confronted with a clear social judgment (penalty)—'You are engaging in trolling unrelated to the main argument'—that they finally exited the scene.

4. The 'Refutation of the Police' by Dictionaries and the Scars Left by Word Hunting

A moment eventually arrived when the academic world put an end to this rampage by internet vigilantes.

In December 2013 (the 7th edition released in January 2014), the Sanseido Kokugo Jiten, which had previously described 'teki wo eru' (to hit the target) as incorrect usage, made a major policy shift following meticulous literature research by editorial committee member Hiroaki Iima and others.They acknowledged the lack of past verification and gave their stamp of approval that 'teki wo eru' is historically and structurally correct Japanese.With this, the internet vigilantes' greatest weapon was academically broken, and they found themselves 'left high and dry.'

However, even now, past the 2020s, the expression 'teki wo eru' is still on the verge of disappearing from the public stage.

Why? It is because general users and the media, who are on the correct side, have engaged in self-censorship (chilling effect) for self-defense, thinking, 'I know that 'teki wo eru' is correct, but if I use it, I will get entangled with those troublesome, unreasonable word police, and the discussion will be ruined. So, I will just write 'teki wo iru' (to shoot the target) or 'kakushin wo tsuku' (to hit the core) from the start.'

Conclusion: Lessons Word Hunting Teaches the Community

The lessons left to us by the 'Target-Hitting Police' issue are heavy.

The side making scientifically and historically correct claims keeps their mouths shut to avoid the noise of loud and persistent 'incorrect vigilantes,' and as a result, rich linguistic expressions are forced to retreat from the battlefield. This was an event that symbolized the 'unreasonable peer pressure' and 'impossibility of dialogue' in modern internet society.

We should not be bound by the symbolic 'black or white' rules of language, but rather truly focus on the 'context'—the history behind it and the essence of the discussion at hand.