Austracism

[David Bowie]

From: "Peter A. McGraw" <pmcgraw at LINFIELD.EDU>
: --On Wed, Feb 9, 2000 1:06 PM +0000 Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

: > From the latest NEW YORK PRESS (www.nypress.com), John O'Sullivan's
: > column, pg. 1, col. 8:

: > Although the threat of "Austracism" failed in its main aim...

: > Austracism.  Austria + racism.
: > I like it.  However, a Dow Jones check shows no other hits.  It's
: > new. If you like it, pass it on.

: Is it actually intended as "Austria + racism" (referring to Joerg
: Haider's tendencies) and pronounced accordingly, or is it a pun on
: "ostracism," referring to other countries' treatment of Austria
: after Haider's party entered the government?  The quote doesn't
: provide enough context to tell.

The article itself indirectly defines "Austracism" as "the European Union's
attempt to prevent Jorg Haider's Freedom Party from entering the Austrian
government by threatening official ostracism", so it seems to be a pun on
"ostracism".

Of course, i don't merge "cot" and "caught", so it's not a perfect pun to my
ears...

David Bowie                                       Department of English
Assistant Professor                            Brigham Young University
db.list at pmpkn.net              http://humanities.byu.edu/faculty/bowied
   The opinions stated here are not necessarily those of my employer