"icon"

[Dan Goncharoff]

In my religion we revere our icons, and I would only use icon to refer to
someone revered within his or her field of endeavor.

On Saturday, May 4, 2013, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

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> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM <javascript:;>>
> Subject:      "icon"
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> Does anyone else find the following usage of "icon," uttered more than once
> today on CNN without elaboration...bizarre?
>
> "Civil rights icon Emmett Till."
>
> Isn't a (human) icon a "celebrity"? A "celebrity" who enjoys being a
> "celebrity"?
>
> How about
>
> 1. ?German history icon Heinrich Himmler.
>
> Slightly better, perhaps, but only slightly. It seems to suggest that
> Himmler was a big applause-getter and, what's more, we're cool with that
> because fame is good.
>
> I haven't checked any dictionaries on this one. CNN's usage - if it isn't
> just plain stupid, which it may be - bestows on "icon" the meaning, "person
> you must have heard of for some reason."
>
> Or is that already an accepted meaning?
>
> 2. ?Exploration icon Christopher Columbus.
>
> 3. ?Holocaust icon Ann Frank.
>
> JL
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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--
DanG

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