A QUESTION for the esteemed list serve

[Jonathan Lighter]

I agree with Barrett. Dan's "deprivatize" might work better because its
form seems to emphasize the removal of private control rather than the
imposition of absolute government control

What's more, the nearest dictionary to hand (Random House College) defines
"nationalize" as you'd expect it to: "to bring under the control or
ownership of a nation, as industries or land."

What's even more, I doubt very much that even the Federal government's
taking over the mere *distribution* of vaccines would have much to do with
"nationalization," since nationalization (as the definition suggests) has
to do with actual ownership and (they could have made this clearer) the
kind of absolute or nearly absolute control that exploits profits and
resources, supposedly for the common good (as when Castro nationalized
businesses in Cuba).  It doesn't usually just manage the distribution of
products.

What's even more than that, it sounds to me as though your colleague has
been overdosing on conspiracy theories.

If a state of the United States were to take over the workings of some
industry, people might well be tempted to use the word "nationalize" in
default of anything better.  For pedants, Google predictably reveals
thousands of exx. of "to statize" (which mostly seems, however,  to mean
"nationalize"),  though it's a new one on me.

JL

On Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 12:32 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Re: A QUESTION for the esteemed list serve
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> A state takeover.
>
> Wiktionary and the OED both say that "nationalisation" means the act of
> bringing under "state" control, but I understand this to refer to the
> "nation" meaning of "state," not the "US state" meaning of "state." But it
> does mean arguing against the dictionary to make your point.
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Seattle, WA
>
> On Oct 5, 2012, at 9:32 AM, Benjamin Barrett <benjaminbarrett85 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > A state takeover.
> >
> > Wiktionary and the OED both say that "nationalisation" means the act of
> bringing under "state" control, but I understand this to refer to the
> "nation" meaning of "state," not the "US state" meaning of "state." But it
> does mean arguing against the dictionary to make your point.
> >
> > Benjamin Barrett
> > Seattle, WA
> >
> > On Oct 5, 2012, at 8:57 AM, Dan Nussbaum <yekkey at AOL.COM> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Recently the State of Connecticut has moved to take over all vaccine
> distri=
> >> bution within the state. A member of my Pediatric list serve complained
> tha=
> >> t this is nationalization of vaccine distribution.=20
> >>
> >>
> >> I pointed out that since the State of Connecticut is not a nation this
> is n=
> >> ot nationalization. He replied that any government takeover is
> nationalizat=
> >> ion. What would the esteemed members of this list serve call a state
> takeov=
> >> er of a hitherto private function.
> >
>
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