In a fantastic blogpost this February, Bridget Minamore wrote: "The synonyms of 'fierce' are violent, ferocious, brutal, severe, stern, angry, vicious, furious, intense and strong.
Since then, the voters, alarmed at a surge in violent crime, have demanded fiercer sentences.
After an initial burst of criticism, most Republicans in Washington — even some of President Obama's fiercest critics — joined Democrats in denouncing the violent attacks on American diplomatic outposts in Egypt and Libya while refraining from criticizing the Obama administration's response.
The spike in attacks is a worry for the government of southeast Asia's second biggest economy, which is also experiencing fierce, sometimes violent rivalries among political factions.
The tragedy sparked intense national mourning in the US and a fierce debate over violent imagery used in political discussion.
Off camera there were fierce, increasingly violent rows with Pierre, who was struggling to keep both the business and Yves himself afloat.
For Saudi Islamists, their arrival was akin to colonisation and it provoked a fierce, and eventually violent, backlash against the House of Saud.
The couple separated in 1788, and despite several attempted reconciliations, his fierce temper and violent behaviour convinced her to leave him permanently in 1790.
But those new governments are locked in fierce, sometimes violent, competition with the more hard-line wing of the Islamic political movements over how much of the faith can mix with democracy, over the very building blocks of religious identity.
His plays provide a unique combination of fierce emotion, high rank, violent deeds (not necessarily onstage) and absolute containment.
