Did you think the point of this post was to fish for sympathy?
The only qualifications required to point out the misuse of language are the ability to recognise such and the ability to speak or write. Life involves getting hurt; the question is, is one doing it for the right reasons. I really don't think this is a nit, or a matter in which only pedantic geeks should be interested.
The authors of the video would quite rightly dismiss me as an irrelevant outsider. I believe the Uru community, of which I have been an active member and hope to be again, can do without this kind of terminology. I pointed that out, was roundly rebuffed, and vented here. It's not the first time, and it won't be the last, but I'm not going to stop doing it for fear of my tender feelings. Language is important. If we learn nothing else from our history, we should learn that language can be the ideal tool for the bigot and the elitist. And if I've learned anything from my life, it is that it is occasionally possible for me to be right even when a lot of people think I'm wrong. That's probably very arrogant of me, but there it is.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-08-25 07:36 pm (UTC)The only qualifications required to point out the misuse of language are the ability to recognise such and the ability to speak or write. Life involves getting hurt; the question is, is one doing it for the right reasons. I really don't think this is a nit, or a matter in which only pedantic geeks should be interested.
The authors of the video would quite rightly dismiss me as an irrelevant outsider. I believe the Uru community, of which I have been an active member and hope to be again, can do without this kind of terminology. I pointed that out, was roundly rebuffed, and vented here. It's not the first time, and it won't be the last, but I'm not going to stop doing it for fear of my tender feelings. Language is important. If we learn nothing else from our history, we should learn that language can be the ideal tool for the bigot and the elitist. And if I've learned anything from my life, it is that it is occasionally possible for me to be right even when a lot of people think I'm wrong. That's probably very arrogant of me, but there it is.