[Ads-l] unhoused---and "houseless"

[Wilson Gray]

> "vagrant"

Has the word, _bum_ "a homeless," been totally driven out of circulation by
the Briticism, _bum_ "an arse"?

On Tue, Sep 15, 2020 at 8:46 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> A number of articles about the effects of the Western wildfires have
> favored the term “houseless” over “homeless”; a quick look at the web shows
> shows that the two privatives have been in competition for some time.
> Various proposals are given for why the former term is seen as preferable
> or less stigmatized, including: that it refers to a physical lack rather
> than a social/cultural fact, that it’s preferred by those who experience
> the condition, that “houseless" refers to an acute situation (e.g. being
> burned out by massive wildfires) as opposed to a chronic condition, perhaps
> (going along with the idea that it’s a euphemism, although the OED shows
> “houseless” has been around for centuries) that if you’re houseless it’s
> not your fault while if you’re homeless it somehow is.
>
> LH
>
> > On Sep 1, 2020, at 9:49 PM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at MST.EDU>
> wrote:
> >
> > 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
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 1, 2020 8:33 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: WOTY candidate: unhoused
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: WOTY candidate: unhoused
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > 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]
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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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