protest = 'demonstrate in public to draw attention to'

[Jonathan Lighter]

>   You could also say that he's an advocate for the victims (patients and
family members).

I could, but he didn't.

Of course what you say is correct, but the point is that, by one
psychological twist or another, these words now function in ways that are
essentially the opposite of what they have traditionally meant.

JL

On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 10:56 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: protest = 'demonstrate in public to draw attention to'
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Not quite. He's not "against" it--he is trying to bring attention to it
> with the purpose of either 1) finding a cure or 2) seeking acceptance
> for the patients (mainstreaming) or 3) seeking preventive measures or
> genetic clues. Not really the same thing. Aside from all these things,
> yes, he's against it. But that's a very minor part of the issue. He's an
> advocate for the disease as a frontline issue, not for the disease
> itself. You could also say that he's an advocate for the victims
> (patients and family members).
>
> The female membership example is far more egregious. But it's also
> fairly common--W had at least a couple of these that were fairly popular.
>
>     VS-)
>
> On 4/4/2012 10:37 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > ...
> > Earlier this week, a gentleman explained that after fathering an autistic
> > child, he'd become "a big advocate for the disease."
> >
> > That means he's against it.
>
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