New Orleans 'insurgency'

[Janis Nihart]

Maybe I am hot and tired from a week of being a refugee(has been in use
since atleast the early 60's--nothing wrong with it.) In 1965 we lost everything
in Betsy inGrand Isle La..  I moved about 30 miles farther north about 20 years ago.
My parentsagain are dealing with the effects of Katrina on Grand Isle and they also
have toworry about looting.So I am also upset so maybe I misunderstood what was
said.The word thug is politically incorrect.  The politically correct word is
ASSHOLE.Please someone tell me that I misunderstood the comments made about how
insurgents can rape , loot, and destroy for a noble cause and do it while
laughing.  Iwonder if the same thing can be said for the servicemen in Iraq...should
they bejustified when they do it???I think not!  I apologize if you were being
sarcastic.Janis Nihart

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> ----------------------- Sender:       American Dialect Society
> <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: New Orleans "insurgency"
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
> 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:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> ----------------------- Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
> Subject: New Orleans "insurgency"
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
> If you thought "refugee" was a loaded word... how about "insurgency"?
>
> -----
> 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.:
>
> -----
> 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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