gendercide

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:59 AM -0400 10/24/10, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>You'd better watch out when the "geniucide" begins.
>
>JL

They came for the geniucide but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a genie...

LH

>
>On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 10:50 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:
>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>  Subject:      Re: gendercide
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  At 10:16 AM -0400 10/24/10, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>  >  > . . .because so many of the would-be perpetrators who are weak on
>>  their
>>  >classical Latin
>>  >misinterpret it as the killing of viruses. <
>>  >
>>  >In this case, language ceases to speak the perpetrating elites consistent
>>  >with their prelinguistic desires.
>>  >
>>  >JL
>>
>>  Mebbe so.  But another factor leading to the general neglect of the
>>  grim consequences of gendercide is the tendency of the hegemonic
>>  elite to confuse this practice with that of _genericide_, a plague
>>  they assume the manufacturers of Kleenex tissues, Thermos bottles,
>>  and Band-aid brand adhesive bandages have enough resources to combat
>>  successfully on their own.
>>
>>  LH
>>
>>  >
>>  >On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 9:46 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu
>>  >wrote:
>>  >
>>  >>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  >>  -----------------------
>>  >>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  >>  Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>  >>  Subject:      Re: gendercide
>>  >>
>>  >>
>>
>>  >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >>
>>  >>  At 9:09 AM -0400 10/24/10, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>  >>  >On CNN just now: "Did you know that 100,000,000 women and girls in
>>  China
>>  >>  and
>>  >>  >India are the victims of gendercide?"
>>  >>  >
>>  >>  >This came at the end of a segment devoted entirely to the
>>  >>  >allegedly widdespread practice in Afghanistan of dressing little girls
>>  as
>>  >>  >boys, and encouraging them to "act as boys," so that a family may
>>  avoid
>>  >>  >shame by pretending to strangers that it has at least one son.
>>  >>  >
>>  >>  >But that's an Afghan custom.  What about China and India?  I don't
>>  know.
>>  >>  >Not a word was said. But Wikipedia restricts "gendercide" to actual
>>  >>  killing.
>>  >>  >It includes "femicide" and "viricide."
>>  >>
>>  >>  The latter being much less prevalent, no doubt because so many of the
>>  >>  would-be perpetrators who are weak on their classical Latin
>>  >>  misinterpret it as the killing of viruses.
>>  >>
>>  >>  LH
>>  >>
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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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