genocide

[Jonathan Lighter]

Naturally I'm less optimistic than you are, Victor. The example reminded me
of a different but equally, um, eccentric one I posted almost exactly three
years ago:

"... Most interesting is 'genocide,' which here seems to mean 'the murder of
one or more innocent members of a de[s]pised racial or ethnic group.'"

The quote itself is easily findable in the archives. That author was not a
diplomat; he was Professor of Media and American Studies at the
University of Ulster. He scored a hat trick of inept usages in a single
sentence.

JL

On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 8:47 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: genocide
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Ironically, of the three "major crimes" recognized under international
> law, Kadhafi's (no matter how you spell the name) actions fall neither
> under genocide nor under war crimes, although they may well fit under
> the remaining catch-all of "crimes against humanity". I would not take a
> rhetorical statement by a diplomat or other national representative
> (e.g., head of government) as something that is representative of
> general usage. The rhetoric is often intentionally inflated and does not
> reflect the kind of precise usage that goes into the writing of laws,
> resolutions and treaties. I can't say that it demonstrates lack of
> understanding because it is offered by a UN ambassador, so I see the
> distortion as a deliberate rhetorical device. Just recall all the debate
> over Darfur and whether or not what was going on there was genocide--a
> claim of genocide carries specific legal responsibilities for the UN and
> member nations and this is something that a lot of people wanted to
> avoid, trying to leave more room for flexibility. Here, we have a case
> of a deliberate exaggeration in order to attract attention. In other
> words, it is not an example of divergent use if it's a deliberate
> distortion. Now, if it becomes a common inadvertent misinterpretation...
>
>     VS-)
>
> On 2/21/2011 7:36 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > Meaning "the unwarranted governmental killing of numbers of people" :
> >
> > 2011
> >
> http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/libya-envoy-accuses-gaddafi-of-genocide/articleshow/7543550.cms
> > :
> > UNITED NATIONS: Libya's deputy ambassador to the United Nations called
> > Monday for Moamer Kadhafi to stand down, accusing him of "genocide" and
> > saying he should stand trial for war crimes...."Certainly the best
> scenario
> > is to have him before the court, to prosecute him and to know from him
> > everything about the crimes he committed before, whether it is the
> genocide
> > of the prison of Abu Salim or the genocide he is committing now or the
> > disappearance of certain important personalities... and all the other
> crimes
> > he has committed during the 42 years in power."
> >
> > JL
>
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