"icon"

[Joel S. Berson]

At 5/5/2013 07:54 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>In today's version, it's "_slain_ Civil Rights icon Emmett Till."  Usually
>the phrase you hear is "slain Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King,"
>but since Till wasn't a "leader," the only alternative in media Inglish is
>"icon."

This is exactly why I wondered about a progression (in some people's
and cable networks' minds).

An alternative to "leader" for Emmett Till might be "martyr" (more
honored and significant than simply a "victim").  We all know who the
greatest martyr in human history is.  He has become an idol.  And
icons have been painted, carved, etc. for him.

Thus "martyr" to "idol" to "icon".

Joel


>It would take too long - apparently - to tell millennials-on-brain-support
>just who Emmett Till  was. You know, "a young black teenager kidnaped,
>beaten, and murdered by white racists in 1955."
>
>"Civil Rights icon" is just cooler.
>
>JL
>
>
>On Sun, May 5, 2013 at 1:42 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "icon"
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On Sat, May 4, 2013 at 7:42 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > Honestly, I don't think "martyr" or "idol" has anything to do with it.
> >
> >
> > *Especially* not in the case cited. Victim? Yes. "Icon"?! No!

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