Quote:
Originally Posted by Clarallel
It's too bad William Safire is dead. He would have loved to write a column about this.
Let's keep out the "fink" and "rat" as insulting terms.
I don't know the actual definitions, but I tend to think of spies as professional, long-term, thorough, and salaried.
I think an informant could be anyone, either pre-arranged, or just someone who more casually shares secret information.
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You're close to the dictionary's definitions.
According to Merriam-Webster, a spy is someone who watches secretly, usually with hostile intentions.
The Free Dictionary defines spy as:
1. One who secretly collects information concerning the enemies of a government or group.
2. One who secretly collects information for a business about one or more of its competitors.
3. One who secretly keeps watch on another or others.
According to Merriam-Webster, an informant is one who gives information.
A second definition is one who supplies cultural or linguistic data in response to interrogation by an investigator.
According to the Free Dictionary, an informer is:
a. One that gives information.
b. One who informs against others; an informer.
c. One who furnishes linguistic or cultural information to a researcher.
Merriam-Webster defines words itself. The Free Dictionary is an aggregator, and defines words by the most common definitions that are collected from several different dictionaries.
What's the common thread in both?
A spy acts in secret with hostile or competitive intent.
An informer gives information, sometimes in response to an investigator.
It seems to me that a person who thinks they are under suspicion of committing a crime would see an informer as a spy.
One who doesn't think they are under suspicion of a crime would not see an informer as simply answering asked questions. Unless he believed the informer had hostile intent toward him. Then he would see the informer as a spy.
The informer (or spy) in this case is a well-known former foreign affairs intelligence expert who worked for the government for a long time and is now teaching foreign affairs at a college.
While he probably had access to knowledge gained by spies during his time in the government, that doesn't mean he was a spy.
It only means he may have used information gained by spies. This information could have been gained through open knowledge or through espionage, as spies use all means available.
But as an informer, he was called upon by investigators to give information that he knew through direct questioning.
So, which is he? Only a close examination of the person, his occupation was, the responsibilities of his job, and to what level of competitive intent the job entailed would provide an answer.
As a teacher, the competitive intent is most likely non-existent now, as that's a major career change for him. But it doesn't negate the expertise that was gained from his former profession.
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