[Ads-l] famous or infamous?

[Wilson Gray]

> Fort Lee, VA, not Fort Lee, NJ

Fort Bragg, CA, and Fort Bragg, NC cause similar problems.

On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 2:24 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 1:57 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > > On Jun 10, 2020, at 1:44 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Paradigm case.
> > >
> > > Yahoo News:
> > >
> > > "Fort Lee is named for Gen. Robert E. Lee, the infamous Confederate
> > > commander."
> > >
> > > It would have been easier (and less condescending to everybody) just to
> > > leave out the value judgment (if that's what is).
> > >
> > > JL
> >
> > If also would have been easier and less condescending if they’d realized
> > Fort Lee is actually named for General Charles Lee, who served under
> > Washington.  I remembered that from one of those McCullogh books about
> the
> > Revolutionary War, and wikipedia confirms.  Now Charles Lee himself was
> > both famous and infamous (
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lee_(general)), court-martial and
> > all, but for insubordination and other alleged offenses, not including
> > being a Confederate commander. That would have been no mean feat, since
> he
> > was dead by the end of 1782.
> >
>
> The news article JL quoted is about Fort Lee, VA, not Fort Lee, NJ.
>
>
> https://www.businessinsider.com/military-bases-named-after-confederate-leaders-2020-6
>
> --bgz
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

------------------------------------------------------------
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