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

Wed Sep 16 16:29:48 UTC 2020

and the world was a sadder place!

----------------------------
MARGARET E WINTERS
Former Provost
Professor Emerita - French and Linguistics
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI  48202

mewinters at wayne.edu

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 10:55 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: unhoused---and "houseless"

[EXTERNAL]

When Dem Bums moved from Brooklyn, the word lost all relevance.

On Tue, Sep 15, 2020, 10:52 PM Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> > "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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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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