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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread refugees? #147976 09/14/2005 10:53 PM Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,788 Seattle, Washington, USA Father Steve Carpal Tunnel Father Steve Carpal Tunnel Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,788 Seattle, Washington, USA The Rt. Rev'd D. Bruce MacPherson, the (Episcopal) Bishop of Western Louisiana, has requested the people of the Episcopal Church not to refer to those who have left Louisiana as a consequence of Hurricane Katrina as "refugees." Bishop MacPherson said, "They have not fled to a foreign country, they have sought the aid of a neighbor. I pray that we may look upon them as 'evacuees' to whom we have been given the gift to minister." Odd thought. If they aren't "refugees" then what makes them different from other people who are refugees? Besides, the term "evacuees" sounds to me like someone who has had all the moisture sucked out of them by being placed in a hypobaric vessel. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: refugees? #147977 09/14/2005 11:02 PM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont I like "neighbors". formerly known as etaoin... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Geoff Nunberg #147978 09/14/2005 11:18 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York ... discusses this and other Katrina-related words in his latest column. http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/looting.html Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: refugees? #147979 09/15/2005 12:53 AM Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 3,467 Marion NC TEd Remington Carpal Tunnel TEd Remington Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 3,467 Marion NC Does anyone else remember DPs? TEd Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Geoff Nunberg #147980 09/15/2005 1:05 AM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont thanks for the link, Anna. but this para made me sit up: One showed a young black man carrying a bag of food in chest-deep water with a caption that described him as looting; another showed a fair-skinned couple in identical circumstances and described them as "finding" food at a local grocery store. (bold emphasis mine) black? fair-skinned? why not white? formerly known as etaoin... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Geoff Nunberg #147981 09/15/2005 3:08 AM Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 273 NZ Vernon Compton enthusiast Vernon Compton enthusiast Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 273 NZ Perhaps "fair-skinned" was insurance. "White" often means "anglo", and if the writer was not sure of the couple's ethnicity (they may have been hispanic?), the safest bet may have been to stick to colour. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: refugees? #147982 09/15/2005 5:22 AM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,027 Switzerland wsieber old hand wsieber old hand Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,027 Switzerland So in this case the use of refugees represents the opposite of an euphemism. Is there a term for this hypothetical class of words? (something like kakophemism?) Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: refugees? #147983 09/15/2005 5:39 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass The opposite of a euphemism is http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/def.htm#dysphemism (Wikipedia also recognises cacophemism.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacophemism Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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