embetterment?? Idiot??

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

Language is also used metaphorically, and the extension of IDIOT into the 
realm of MORON (and even MORNON) is so frequent that I would expect at least 
some larger dictionaries to make note of the usage. Of course, for the more 
extreme critics of the current president, IDIOT is not all that metaphorical, 
even given the writer's definition.

My AOL spellchecker rfejects EMBETTERMENT, but even so, I agree with the 
writer (elsewhere in her post) that much of the discussion about EMBETTERMENT 
is largely "about political B-S," though in my opinion she incorrectly 
contrasts "political B-S" with "language misuse." The very term "language 
misuse" is itself political in the larger sense of "political"; that is to 
say, to attempt to establish that someone else's usage is a "misuse" confers 
political advantage on the person who assumes that her usage is a "correct" 
use. There are no "misuses," there are only socially differentiable ones. (Of 
course, one could reasonably argue that I am arguing that the writer has 
misused the term "misuse," I guess. ...)


In a message dated 1/3/03 8:07:36 AM, yvonne_frasure at YAHOO.COM writes:


> The term idiot is perhaps being used inappropriately here as well.  Idiot- a 
> person exhibiting mental deficiency in its most severe form and requiring 
> constant care.  The idiot is incapable of learning and understanding, and 
> is completely helpless.  An imbecile may learn to communicate with others, 
> but is incapable of earning his own living.  A mornon [sic] may take a 
> normal place in society, but needs constant supervision.  Technically speak
> ing...he's a moron , not an idiot.
>