Dead-End Discussions (was the/Ukraine)

[William Derbyshire]

I have not jumped into this debate, but I must agree with my Rutgers  
colleague.
People have the right to ask to be called what they want. I had a colleague 
 who
refused on purpose to pronounce Croat as is normal in English. He said that 
 since
boat is pronounced in the way that it is, Croat should be pronounced Crote, 
 in my
opinion very insulting. Incidentally that particular colleague was black,  
and I once 
asked him how he would feel if I uttered the word "nigra". He was not  
amused, but
he stuck to his Crote.
W. Derbyshire
 
 
In a message dated 6/20/2014 5:49:44 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,  
bojanows at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU writes:

Dear  All,

I too have been following this debate with a sinking heart, though  I agree 
with Robert Chandler that it has had its illuminating moments. But I  also 
share Vitaly Chernetsky's and Eliot Borenstein’s sentiments as to what  the 
right thing to do is.

They got it right: whether or not one accepts  Ukrainians’ rationale for 
wanting their country to be referred to a certain  way, we should honor this 
and all such requests.  This is the only kind,  respectful, and plainly 
decent thing to do.  But beyond that, in this of  all lists, I would expect to 
see a wide consensus that particular uses of  language have cultural, social, 
and political implications.  These  implications are very real for 
Ukrainians, especially recently.

To  Jules Levin I would submit a useful analogy with a transition to 
non-gendered  language.  There was a time when the masculine was the default  
pronoun.  Women in the English-speaking world started to demand a  revision of 
this immemorial linguistic custom, finding it disrespectful.   We all came 
around to the new way of using language.  Gripes about  women’s insecurities, 
calling them “hypersensitive teenagers,” and otherwise  advising them to “
man up” were as inappropriate then as your comments about  Ukrainian 
sensibilities are now. 

Regards to the list,
Edyta  Bojanowska
Rutgers  University

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