"take offense to"; the "R-word"

[Laurence Horn]

>Formerly a well-meaning euphemism.
>
>JL

Yes, on the assumption that those who are late will still get there
in the end.  But by the point when it had turned into a noun with
retracted stress (rhyming with leotard), it was clear that the time
had come for another turn on the euphemism treadmill.  (One might
even say that the word had been hoist on its own...well, you get the
idea.)

LH
>
>On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 7:28t PM, Ann Burlingham <ann at burlinghambooks.com>wrote
>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Ann Burlingham <ann at BURLINGHAMBOOKS.COM>
>  > Subject:      Re: "take offense to"; the "R-word"
>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 5:34 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
>>  >wrote:
>>
>>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  > -----------------------
>>  > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>  > Subject:      Re: "take offense to"; the "R-word"
>>  >
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  > Wait, wait! It gets better:
>>  >
>>  > "The controversy over the 'R-word' comes just as the Special Olympics is
>>  > gearing up for its second annual 'Spread The Word to End the Word'
>>  > campaign.They have set up a website,
>>  > www.r-word.org<
>>  >
>>
>>http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts1114/35006948/SIG=11qibid1p/*http://www.andrewgolis.com/ynews/wp-admin/www.r-word.org
>>  > >,
>>  > where people can pledge not to use the word anymore. According to a
>>  > spokesperson, they're hoping to obtain at least 100,000 pledges to
>>  'change
>>  > the conversation,' and as of this writing, they've collected over 55,000
>>  > pledges, including Rahm Emanuel's."
>>  >
>>  >
>>  It has boggled me for years that otherwise-thoughtful people would use that
>>  word.
>>
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>>
>
>
>
>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org