I feel obligated at this point to mention that I *did* edit the original post and have not changed it back, nor have I used that language outside this discussion.
your argument appears to be that it's fine and dandy to sound exactly like USian right wing nutjobs because an Iranian right wing nutjob said something which was translated into English in a way that might support the inappropriately appropriated USian usages.
My argument, mostly stung in response to the several times "ignorant" came up was to defend that I *have* been paying attention to current events, and see plainly that certain words have been used in certain contexts regardless of their original or inherent meaning. Jihad. Pro-life (to bring the conversation back to the fast-fading original point). Saying "those words don't remotely mean XYZ violent event" doesn't change that terms have been appropriated not just by other cultures, but by radical fringes within the original culture to *specifically cover* XYZ violent event. There are people here celebrating Dr. Tiller's assassination as a life-affirming event. Celebrating. A murder. As "pro-life."
So I think it isn't ignorance to point out that X word or phrase is starting to mean Y. It wasn't that long ago that "gay" meant happy on both sides of the Atlantic...
Not using extremists as a pattern for behavior is a different point, IMO. And a hell of a valid one; you have the most amazing knack of backing off and then making your point in a different direction with inescapable and undeniable logic. This isn't the first time you've stopped me in my tracks just as I'm getting settled to be bullish, although I haven't mentioned it before.
Bottom line. I won't use jihad or fatwah. I do think that the meanings are shifting - certainly tainted - by extremist use, just as pro-life and liberal and several other terms have been here. In regards to extremists here, I'm going to stop talking and start doing at the next escort class.
no subject
your argument appears to be that it's fine and dandy to sound exactly like USian right wing nutjobs because an Iranian right wing nutjob said something which was translated into English in a way that might support the inappropriately appropriated USian usages.
My argument, mostly stung in response to the several times "ignorant" came up was to defend that I *have* been paying attention to current events, and see plainly that certain words have been used in certain contexts regardless of their original or inherent meaning. Jihad. Pro-life (to bring the conversation back to the fast-fading original point). Saying "those words don't remotely mean XYZ violent event" doesn't change that terms have been appropriated not just by other cultures, but by radical fringes within the original culture to *specifically cover* XYZ violent event. There are people here celebrating Dr. Tiller's assassination as a life-affirming event. Celebrating. A murder. As "pro-life."
So I think it isn't ignorance to point out that X word or phrase is starting to mean Y. It wasn't that long ago that "gay" meant happy on both sides of the Atlantic...
Not using extremists as a pattern for behavior is a different point, IMO. And a hell of a valid one; you have the most amazing knack of backing off and then making your point in a different direction with inescapable and undeniable logic. This isn't the first time you've stopped me in my tracks just as I'm getting settled to be bullish, although I haven't mentioned it before.
Bottom line. I won't use jihad or fatwah. I do think that the meanings are shifting - certainly tainted - by extremist use, just as pro-life and liberal and several other terms have been here. In regards to extremists here, I'm going to stop talking and start doing at the next escort class.
And you could out-logic Mr. Spock.