>>
>>It seems to move away from any want to communicate clearly though towards what one
>> hesitates to wonder.
I wouldn't say it in a serious conversation, only with humour (irony as some people call it) to someone I know. Otherwise I'd probably say "as a deterrent".
To me however that it does have a meaning a bit beyond that - that the punishment is not only increased as a deterrent, but ridiculously so. If I wanted to make that point shorthand, I might say "Admiral Byng job".
But I have to concede that where communication is important, if it isn't understood then it is the fault of the speaker/writer.
Plus ça change.
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