Word of the Day


The Lord of Eltingville wrote:
Ed Chapin wrote:

http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/6945.html

Ed

Some other good reading is "***: The Strange Career of a Troublesome
Word" by Randall Kennedy.

http://tinyurl.com/pxcfo

Perhaps a certain Howard Stern fan could get a copy and give it a read
before going off on another rant about double standards and the
unbearable burden of being a white guy who can't say "***" without
offending someone.



I haven't read this book, although I may give it a whirl at some point
in the future. I'm really not in a "social constructionist" reading
mode these days, except as I can apply it to satire.

Words are powerful tools. To deny that they don't carry heavy baggage
that may differ from person-to-person, from group-to-group, is a bit
naive in my opinion. This is especially true of words that have
historical associations with such nasty things as discrimination,
injustice, death.

On the other hand, it is always dangerous to completely squelch them.
A few years back, there was a big to-do about the use of the word
"niggardly" in the classroom. Apparently, a student complained that
the word sounded so much like the other nasty word as to cause her
intense pain. Her pain may indeed have been real, but is the
subjective point-of-view always a valid reference point for public
policy? In many case, it may well be. Certainly, not always.

The meaning that is attached to a word may change with historical
developments. In some very real ways, words are symbols. One day in
the classroom, I attempt to convey the idea that much of the meaning
attached to symbols is indeed of social origins. I drew a swastika on
the board to get their attention. It worked. I then proceeded to
demonstrate how the nasty meaning associated with this symbol was a
product of social (or anti-social) activities conducted on the part of
Hitler's regime in Germany. However, that symbol has meant many things
to many social groups throughout history--most of a positive nature.
In our day and age though, the meaning is exceedingly negative, so much
so that one student actually requested that I remove it from the board.
I did so after I finished the presentation. The swastika has been
poisoned to such a large extent that I cannot see reclaiming any
widespread positive meaning in the Western world for a long time to
come, if ever.

Personally, I think I'll stick to the Stealie!

Ed

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