New Orleans "insurgency"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Many of us word cranks see this "error" as more politically correct. A "thug" is violent for the hell of it, but an "insurgent" has a social or political motivation.

It would be very very condescending to make the assumption, prevalent in our sick society, that people who rape, shoot, and pillage cannot be motivated by lofty, albeit sometimes differing, ideals.

The military has at last recognized this simple fact.

JL

Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
Subject: New Orleans "insurgency"
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If you thought "refugee" was a loaded word... how about "insurgency"?

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http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1077495.php
Army Times, Sep 2, 2005
Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans
[...]
While some fight the insurgency in the city, other carry on with rescue
and evacuation operations. Helicopters are still pulling hundreds of
stranded people from rooftops of flooded homes.
-----

A Google News search also finds references to "insurgents", e.g.:

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http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20050903/localnews/11863.shtml
Gainesville Times, Sep 3, 2005
Local physician headed to New Orleans
Col. Philip Marler served four months in Iraq last year as a member of the
U.S. Army National Guard.
Now, the Gainesville physician is heading to New Orleans to help his
hometown recover from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.
[...]
The parallels to Iraq are unsettling, Marler said. "In the Army, they're
not referring to these people as looters," he said. "They're calling them
insurgents."
-----

Further discussion of the Army Times article here:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/03/alcajun_army_times_c.html


--Ben Zimmer


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