word of the year?

[Laurence Horn]

On Aug 20, 2012, at 2:41 PM, Geoff Nathan wrote:

> At another university, which had a large number of young, somewhat naive Malaysian (overwhelmingly Muslim) linguistics students, my wife was told by a twenty-something girl she was counselling about 'life' that she couldn't get pregnant if the boy was an American (and presumably Christian).


That sounds like it's a new instance of the standard "famous last words" meme:

Don't worry, you can't get pregnant if
…you're a virgin.
…it's your first time.
…I pull out.
…you're nursing.
…you've just had your period.
…you do it {with the girl on top/standing up/in the bathtub/...}.

The ethnicity version *is* clever, though.

LH






> So it's not just random congressmen... Sigh... Geoff Geoffrey S. Nathan Faculty Liaison, C&IT and Professor, Linguistics Program http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/ +1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT) +1 (313) 577-8621 (English/Linguistics) ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 1:24:22 PM
>> Subject: Re: word of the year?
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject: Re: word of the year?
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> It occurred to me that there was once a superstition that a woman
>> could get
>> pregnant only if she, er, had, um, a certain feeling during the, ah,
>> act.
>> Thus, very few actual ("legitimate") rape victims could get pregnant.
>> You can imagine how pleased I was to discover that I'm not crazy and
>> my
>> memory still kind of functions:
>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-h-word/2012/aug/20/legitimate-rape-medieval-medical-concept
>> So Congressman Akin's remarks (based on the knowledge of "doctors")
>> are
>> perfectly sensible.
>> To the medieval mind.
>> JL
>> On Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 12:28 PM, Ben Zimmer
>> <bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu>wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster: Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
>>> Subject: Re: word of the year?
>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> There was also Ron Paul's "honest rape."
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/04/ron-paul-tells-piers-morgan-only-honest-rape-merits-abortion/
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 12:02 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Not as catchy as Whoopi Goldberg's "rape rape" (in her description
>>>> of
>>> what
>>>> Roman Polanski didn't commit with the 14-year-old girl).
>>>>
>>>> On Aug 20, 2012, at 10:23 AM, Arnold Zwicky wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Aug 20, 2012, at 6:43 AM, David Barnhart wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> What was going through the speaker's mind. Legitimate rape!?!?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> From: Hollis Barnhart [mailto:hbarnhart at highlands.com]
>>>>>> Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 8:35 AM
>>>>>> To: David Barnhart
>>>>>> Subject: word of the year?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> worst euphemism maybe? legitimate rape:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/post/legitimate-rape-and-todd-akins-myths/2012/08/20/f8c048b4-ea76-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_blog.html
>>>>>
>>>>> my guess is that he was (mentally) contrasting forcible rape
>>>>> ("real
>>>>> rape", "legitimate rape") with statutory rape. the legal
>>>>> presumption
>>> is
>>>>> that sex with a minor cannot by definition be consensual and
>>>>> therefore
>>> must
>>>>> have been coerced, even if not forcible -- so is rape (labeled
>>>>> in
>>> various
>>>>> ways in different jurisdictions, but known informally as
>>>>> "statutory
>>> rape").
>>>>> but people recognize that the legal minor in these cases often
>>>>> enters
>>>>> willingly into the sexual relations (and most people are
>>>>> uncomfortable
>>> with
>>>>> the idea that a specific date makes the difference between rape
>>>>> and
>>>>> consensual sex).
>>>>>
>>>>> if that's what Akin meant, then of course he should have said
>>>>> so,
>>> rather
>>>>> than merely saying he mis-spoke (if he mis-spoke, what did he
>>>>> *intend*
>>> to
>>>>> say instead?). but then he would be exposing an attitude that
>>>>> might
>>> well be
>>>>> unpopular with a significant portion of the electorate.
>>>>>
>>>>> the other problem with his original statement is his expressed
>>>>> belief
>>>>> that forcible rape doesn't make women pregnant, because their
>>>>> bodies --
>>>>> somehow, magically --prevent conception. he is simply wrong
>>>>> about
>>> that as a
>>>>> matter of science, and it's a really ugly idea. the only way for
>>>>> Akin
>>> to
>>>>> fix that would be for him to admit that he was wrong
>>>>> ("mis-speaking"
>>> doesn't
>>>>> begin to cover the case), but i fear he's convinced of the truth
>>>>> of
>>> this
>>>>> myth, though he realizes that it would be impolitic to admit
>>>>> that. so
>>> his
>>>>> follow-up statement disregards the issue entirely, in favor of
>>> apparently
>>>>> supportive platitudes.
>>>>>
>>>>> really, a remarkable performance.
>>>>>
>>>
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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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>
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