[Ads-l] diverse-owned Re: ADS-L Digest - 8 Sep 2022 to 10 Sep 2022 (#2022-225)

[Laurence Horn]

True as far as ethnicity goes, but "diverse" also sometimes extends to
sexual minorities.  Still designating "other", as you say.

LH

On Tue, Sep 13, 2022 at 9:04 AM Z Sohna <zrice3714 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Regarding the following:
>
>      "a group that has been oppressed, marginalized, or underprivileged"
>       (and "underprivileged" right there is similarly problematic)"
>
> It doesn't even seem to have that meaning (in my opinion); otherwise, I
> would expect that the Irish and eastern Europeans would fall into that
> category of "diverse", but they do not (in present-day US speech /
> thought).
>
> It seems more to me as if it is a euphemism for "colored" / "of color",
> "other", or "non-white".
>
> Regards,
> Zola Sohna
>
>
> On 9/11/22 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> >* Date:    Sat, 10 Sep 2022 09:10:25 +0200
> *>* From:    Z Sohna<zrice3714 at GMAIL.COM
> <https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ads-l>>
> *>* Subject: Re: ADS-L Digest - 7 Sep 2022 to 8 Sep 2022 (#2022-224)
> *>>* "diverse-owned"??
> *
> Eeeyup. I see this as another instance of the use of "diverse" for
> "minority" or whatever euphemism is being used to stand for "a group
> that has been oppressed, marginalized, or underprivileged" (and
> "underprivileged" right there is similarly problematic).
>
> You've no doubt heard things like "this neighborhood is very diverse,"
> which sometimes means that yep, there's a lot of different types of
> folks who live here, and other times is being used to mean that there
> are a lot of folks from "minority" groups living here. (And "minority"
> is problematic.)
>
> The only thing that makes me crazier is the use of "ethnic" as a
> euphemism, also: "My, this neighborhood is so . . . ethnic." And I
> apologize for using the term "euphemism," which isn't quite right
> either. Perhaps what I really should be saying is "shorthand." It's a
> stand-in, a replacement for . . . . I don't want to say "code," but
> maybe I should?
>
> ---Amy West
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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