I can't believe this even needs saying, but across the spectrum of cable and print news there seems to be an increasing reluctance -- brought about by a perhaps well-intentioned, doubtlessly intense PR campaign -- to use the word "coup" in reference to today's (yesterday's, depending on where you are) events in Egypt. The word itself is becoming a hot potato.
A quick and decisive extra-legal seizure of governmental power by a relatively small but highly organized group of political or military leaders, typically by means of the unexpected arrest or assassination of the incumbent chief executive and his principal supporters within the government. http://www.auburn.edu/...
Overall, the Western media has been anti-Morsi, and so perhaps more willing to agree to the terms that their "side's" linguistic demands.
a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; especially : the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group. http://www.merriam-webster.com/...
However, this was a coup, under no definition is it NOT a coup. That a segment (as yet undetermined except in Cairo via protester counts) of the population is in favor of the coup does not make it a non-coup. Even if a majority favors a coup, it is still a coup. Morsi was properly elected, he later abused his power tremendously, but as the military came in and swept him aside without legal standing or authority...it's still a coup. Maybe it's a good coup!? It's still a coup.
The sudden overthrow of a government, differing from a revolution by being carried out by a small group of people who replace only the leading figures. http://en.wiktionary.org/...
The people were in the street, yes. Many people! The overthrow of the government was not by the people. It was by the army. So, it's a coup.
Coup d'état (ˌkuːdeɪˈtɑː; plural: coups d'état), also known as a coup, a putsch, or an overthrow, is the sudden deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to depose the extant government and replace it with another body, civil or military. A coup d'état is considered successful when the usurpers establish their dominance. http://en.wikipedia.org/...
A coup's outcome doesn't make it not a coup. A coup can end in any sort of government. Even some civilian guy only two days into his job can be made president, and it's still a coup!
a sudden and decisive action in politics, esp. one resulting in a change of government illegally or by force. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/...
You may like the outcome. It's still a coup. You may regret the legal consequences if it's a coup. It's still a coup. Why is it a coup? It's the definition of a coup. If it's not a coup, a coup isn't a coup.