genocide

[Jonathan Lighter]

Having read his entire article, I don't get that feeling at all. He is
simply describing, to the best of his ability, a scene in _Full Metal
Jacket_, a film which he evaluates favorably, in detail, as an
interpretation of the Vietnam War.

JL

On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 10:02 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: genocide
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I am, as I often am by the messages here, confused.
>
> Wasn't the professor's "definition" pure sarcasm??
>
> DanG
>
> On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 9:49 AM, 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: genocide
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Dave has stated my precise point better than could I.
> >
> > As always, my exx. from the Libyan envoy and the Ultonian professor are
> > grist for the linguistic mill, not claims that the "meaning has changed"
> > for millions.  But, surprisingly to me, the meaning of "genocide" is
> > evidently much more fluid for some people, no matter how highly
> > educated, than it is for most of us.  Or so I presume.
> >
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 7:33 AM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> > > Subject:      Re: genocide
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> > ------
> > >
> > > I notice that no one has actually posted the relevant definitions. It's
> > > kind of difficult to discuss the meaning of a specific definition when
> > th=
> > e
> > > definition has not been stated.
> > >
> > > The OED has: "The deliberate and systematic extermination of an ethnic
> or
> > > national group."
> > >
> > > Article 2 of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
> the
> > > Crime of Genocide has a more specific definition, but one that is
> > compati=
> > ble
> > > with the OED definition:
> > >
> > > "Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to
> > destro=
> > y,
> > > in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,
> as
> > > such:
> > > (a) Killing members of the group;
> > > (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
> > > (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
> to
> > > bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
> > > (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
> > > (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
> > >
> > > The key is that any specific act must be within the context of a larger
> > > campaign to eradicate a national or ethnic group. Gunning down
> Vietnamese
> > > civilians from a helicopter or killing Libyan protesters in a square in
> > > Tripoli, horrendous though those acts may be, are not genocide because
> > th=
> > ey
> > > are not part of a larger campaign of eradication.
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf
> > > Of Wilson Gray
> > > Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 12:56 AM
> > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > Subject: Re: genocide
> > >
> > > On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 11:57 PM, Victor Steinbok <
> aardvark66 at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > genocide
> > >
> > > Sorry, Victor. I'm still stuck in the past, I guess. Certainly, the
> > > destruction even of an abstract like "culture," in a real sense,
> > > erases the bearers of the extinguished culture from the face of the
> > > earth. And the point of the thread is the *legal definition* of
> > > genocide, regardless of the exact manner in which it has been or may
> > > be carried out. However, even if the extinction "only" of a culture is
> > > the end, that extinction often begins with the physical extinction,
> > > often in the process of the propagation and imposition of some "one,
> > > true faith" - after all, *peoples* were destroyed in order to "save"
> > > them, long before any villages were - of those most able to pass on
> > > that culture.
> > > --
> > > -Wilson
> > > -----
> > > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"=96=96a strange complaint
> > t=
> > o
> > > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > > -Mark Twain
> > >
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> >
> >
> > --=20
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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