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Subject:Re[2]: Speaking of Improper Terminology From:Melissa Hunter-Kilmer <mhunterk -at- BNA -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 19 Sep 1997 11:50:13 EST
Marie C. Paretti <mparetti -at- RRINC -dot- COM> wrote:
> How many parents name their kid Hitler? Maybe Adolf is still
> popular in Germany, but I kinda doubt it.
One reason could be that "Adolf" was an uncommon name to begin with,
and now of course it's even more uncommon. You don't see people
avoiding the name "Joseph" (Stalin) -- because it was already a very
common name and the weight of the mass murder Stalin perpetrated was
apparently not enough to counteract the accumulated centuries of the
pleasant connotations of his first name.
Something similar happened with the uncommonly-named John Bobbitt. If
he had been named John Smith, I bet that the term "Bobbittize"
wouldn't have turned out as "Smithize"; it would have been something
entirely different.
Buck and Tilly Buchanan <writer -at- WF -dot- NET> responded:
> No matter how much we tried to make Connie understand the
> affectionate term *gang* she only knew one connotation and would not
> be swayed.
And that's the whole point. If a user perceives a word to have an
overwhelmingly negative connotation, then that word becomes synonymous
with only one thing. Remember Alexia's users who demanded that
"abort" be removed from the code?
"Gang" is apparently one of those words to which people can react very
strongly. So are "abort," "slave," and "gay." The one negative meaning
of these words can override all other meanings.
We have to consider our audiences and pay attention to terms of art,
but we also have to consider intangibles. This is one of them. It's
a cultural thing. For some of us, these words are hot buttons; for
others, they aren't. And there is no amount of explaining that will
change this.
BTW, I admire those people who have posted politely on this topic.
More light and less heat are always helpful!
Melissa Hunter-Kilmer
mhunterk -at- bna -dot- com
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