word sought

[Ann Burlingham]

On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 2:20 PM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      word sought
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Question from a friend:
>
>> Date: Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 11:54 AM
>> Subject: A gaping hole in the language
>>
>> Is there any word for "long painful discussion which
>> takes a long time to even identify the crucial issues,
>> but which may turn out to be productive"?
>
> The asker has confirmed that the question is
> meant seriously. The specific context is
>
>>>>
>
> the big discussion/flamewar/unnameable
> about race.*

I'd say "processing".

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org