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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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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.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Does anyone else remember DPs?
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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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...
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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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.
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old hand
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old hand
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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 ?)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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