[Ads-l] WOTY candidate: unhoused

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

Just this past Sunday W. Kamau Bell (on CNN; " United Shades of America")

 interviewed a man who is a de facto head of a community living on the street in Los Angeles,

and he specifically explained that the people there are unhoused, not homeless; the

street is their home. At least one person had lived there for twenty years.


Gerald Cohen

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Subject: Re: WOTY candidate: unhoused

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Amy West wrote:
> Probably recency illusion, but I've been noticing the use of "unhoused"
> instead of "homeless": I heard Cori Bush, the new Missouri
> representative use it in an interview:
>
> " But, you know, I bring a different - you know, I bring something
> different, you know? And that is coming from the heart of the ground,
> out of the activist community, out of the Ferguson uprising, you know,
> being unhoused, being, you know, just a whole different - just a
> different outlook."
>
> https://www.npr.org/2020/08/18/903616343/congressional-candidate-from-mis=
souri-on-racial-justice-and-policing
>
> And now I see it in an e-mail from ACLU:
>
> "It was only because of a local moratorium that they were able to keep a
> roof above their heads. Since that expired, both they and her son could
> now be unhoused in a pandemic."
>
> "Rent is Due Tomorrow," ACLU, 31 Aug 2020, e-mail.
>
> Sorry if other folks have already commented on this.

Here is a 2016 article discussing "homeless" versus "unhoused"

Article: Is 'Homeless' The Right Word For Those Living On The Street?
Author: Jessica Park
Date: December 8, 2016
https://hoodline.com/2016/12/is-homeless-the-right-word-for-those-living-on=
-the-street

[Begin excerpt]
Given that a high-degree of homelessness has been visible in San
Francisco for decades, it=E2=80=99s no surprise that locals have become
desensitized to the sight of individuals and encampments sleeping on
city sidewalks.

But what=E2=80=99s less apparent is growing push-back on the label =E2=80=
=9Chomeless.=E2=80=9D
. . .
Thomas Wasow, a professor and chair of the linguistics department at
Stanford University, saw disdain for the label 'homeless' first hand
several years ago when he was working with unhoused residents in Palo
Alto.

"There was a homeless guy that used to come to some of our meetings,
and he objected to the term homeless, and he said the reason is, 'I
have a home, it's Palo Alto. I'm unhoused,'" said Wasow.
[End excerpt]

Merriam-Webster gives 1616 as the date of first use for "unhoused"
adjective. I cannot reach the OED right now, so I do not know what it
says.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unhoused

[Begin excerpt]
un=C2=B7housed | \ =CB=8C=C9=99n-=CB=88hau=CC=87zd  \
Definition of unhoused
: not housed: such as
a: not having a dwelling place or shelter : HOMELESS
unhoused people
=E2=80=A6 it re-creates the grammar, point of view and domestic economy of =
the
unhoused life =E2=80=A6
=E2=80=94 Jonathan Raban
b: not covered by a protective housing
an unhoused electrical component
First Known Use of unhoused
circa 1616, in the meaning defined above
[End excerpt]

Switching from "vagrant" to "homeless" to "unhoused" reminds me of the
term "euphemism treadmill".

Year: Friday, June 17, 2011
Article: The Euphemism Treadmill - replacing the "R-Word"
http://englishcowpath.blogspot.com/2011/06/euphemism-treadmill-replacing-r-=
word.html

[Begin excerpt]
Stephen Pinker in his 2003 book =E2=80=9CThe Blank Slate=E2=80=9D coined th=
e name
euphemism treadmill for the process whereby words introduced to
replace an offensive word, over time become offensive themselves. A
current example of this is mental retardation.
[End excerpt]

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