eli5: What’s the difference between lethal, fatal, and deadly?
In: Other
My take is that lethal usually refers to a quality of an event or object, while fatal usually refers to an event based on its outcome. Eg a lethal dose, a fatal blow/accident. Lethal referring to an innate characteristic of the item or action, fatal referring to the outcome. A deadly or lethal snake may not have killed anyone yet, but a fatal attack must have.
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