Word Cranks Pledge Semantic Aid ! (Was: refugees)

[Dave Wilton]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 5:01 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Word Cranks Pledge Semantic Aid ! (Was: refugees)
>
>
> Fox & Friends has received numerous e-mails insisting "you should
> stop using the word 'refugees.'  They are 'displaced persons.' "
>
> "When a city is wiped out, the prescriptivists kick in." -- Old Saying
>
> JL

A quick search of Google News for "refugee" & "Katrina" turns up over 3000
hits. "Displaced person" & "Katrina" turns up only 3.

"Displaced person" has the same "problems" as "refugee." "Displaced person"
refers to international political/military refugees as well, in particular
those made homeless by the Nazis in the 1940s. If you're going to object to
"refugee," you ought to also object to "displaced persons."

--Dave Wilton
  dave at wilton.net
  http://www.wilton.net