Take Care with Dysphemisms

Take Care with Dysphemisms Take Care with Dysphemisms Take Care with Dysphemisms By Mark Nichol You probably know what a euphemism is: putting lipstick on a pig, as in using the expression â€Å"pass away† in place of the word die, or â€Å"enhanced interrogation† instead of torture. Is dysphemism essentially, the opposite concept any more problematic? Just as a euphemism cloaks a disagreeable or offensive concept with an innocuous or vague label, dysphemism assigns a mildly or scathingly pejorative term to a concept or person that may be considered neutral or positive or may already have a negative connotation or reputation. For example, doctors are sometimes called quacks, and psychiatrists and psychologists are often referred to as shrinks. (Quack derives from quacksalver, from a Dutch word meaning â€Å"seller of salves,† or ointments; quack is equivalent to hawk, a verb meaning â€Å"to sell by calling out.† Shrink is a truncation of â€Å"head shrinker,† from the idea that mental health professionals are no more knowledgeable about the mind than witch doctors who shrink human heads for ritualistic purposes.) Shrink is often used inoffensively, even by psychiatric patients or by psychiatrists themselves. But quack denotes an unscrupulous doctor or someone posing as a doctor or otherwise fraudulently offering to heal others and is rarely used jocularly. Because of the variable connotations among dysphemisms, writers should take care when considering whether to use them. Such terms are unlikely to appear in formal writing, but they may show up in more casual prose, especially in opinionated comments. An accountant might, in jest, refer to himself as a bean counter, but the connotation is of an excessively meticulous person unable to focus on anything other than saving money, and the term is generally offensive. An attorney, on the other hand, would never call herself a shyster, even in a moment of levity, and the word is provocative. â€Å"City slicker†? I’m a relative newcomer to a rural area from a metropolitan one, and I might jokingly self-identify as such, but for anyone else who might think of calling me that, as the (mis)quote from a Gary Cooper movie goes, â€Å"Mister, smile when you call me that.† The same policy applies to tree-hugger or redneck, bookworm or â€Å"frat boy,† â€Å"pencil pusher† or â€Å"talking head†: Use with caution. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Business Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comparative Forms of AdjectivesTop 11 Writing Apps for iOS (iPhone and iPad)Ebook, eBook, ebook or e-book?

Risk Assesment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Risk Assesment - Essay Example If the 100, 000 people were financially well off, they would have left the city before the storm. In addition, if the number were small, say less than 5,000, the government would use its resources to evacuate them. There is a high association between poverty and crime. From a sociological perspective, the poor are more prone to criminal activities such as stealing and looting whenever such a chance occurs. Bearing in mind that the people left behind were the poor, this theory holds true as they participated in the looting in the city. Additionally, the high number of the affected delayed the recovery process, as the government had to wait for the storm to end before implementing any program. There was a large population of the sick, injured, homeless, and psychologically tortured residents. For this reason, it required more resources to provide rehabilitation facilities, medical services, and housing. As a result, the recovery process was slow compared to a situation where the number of victims was manageable, and the affected had personal resources to assist in various projects such as housing and

Poem Summarize Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Poem Summarize - Essay Example Mrs. Hale recalls how she was always jovial, social and loved singing before in her youth. After her marriage however, she was shut away from what she loved to the extent that she could not move out or be visited by her friends. Her only source of joy was her bird which her husband killed. The two women hide these facts and evidences from the two men to save her from the law. On the other hand, The Abandoned Farmhouse by Ted Kooser gives assumptions of what might have occurred in a farmhouse based on the evidences left behind. For example, the poet assumes that the man was big due to the size of the shoe left behind. A Jury of Her Peers is identical to Abandoned Farmhouse in all aspects. The main theme in both poems is family conflicts. In A Jury of Her Peers, Mrs. Wright kills her husband due to pain and suffering she encountered as his wife. Despite the sheriff and District Attorney’s inability to find evidences against her, Mrs. Hale and the sheriff’s wife prove that she actually did commit the crime. There are other instances in the story that also show that she killed him: first, she was not in shock and did not even report the matter to the authority. She laughed when asked by Mr. Hale where he was and she blatantly replied that he was dead. Secondly, she claims not to know what happened to her husband despite being present during her husband’s death. She asserts that she was sound asleep. In the Abandoned Farmhouse, the woman leaves in haste, never to return after some conflict with her husband that may have resulted in to serious damages-or even death. There is also the theme of feminism and women empowerment in both poems. In a Jury of Her Peers, it is evident that women were oppressed and given lesser responsibilities in a male dominated society. After realizing the suffering Minnie Wright went through at the hands of her chauvinist husband, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter also realize that they did not give her

INDIVIDUAL SOLUTION OF AN ALLOCATED SCENARIO-BIG BROTHER BART Essay

INDIVIDUAL SOLUTION OF AN ALLOCATED SCENARIO-BIG BROTHER BART - Essay Example The case brings out the work of Bart and also brings into light the software used by him to keep a tab on the employee systems to ensure that the software is working fine. Bart uses this software to keep track of people who have issues with new software and he uses this log in to simply keep an eye on the working conditions of the software. Bart’s manager requests him to use this software to keep track of two specific employees who are under the suspicion of trading in drugs using the office computers. Bart is faced with an ethical dilemma here and is unsure of whether it is a good idea to keep a tab on an employee’s computer for this reason. In this case the question is to analyse whether it is ethical for Bart to keep a tab on the employee systems or not and to analyse the theories that relate to these. The two chosen theories here are Utilitarianism and Deontology. The following section provides a brief overview of these theories and helps set the base for analysis o f the case. Utilitarianism and Kantian Deontology share one thing in common, i.e. they are both aimed to provide solutions to moral dilemmas. Utilitarianism is more of morality of justice and it focuses more on maximising the utility or ensuring that most numbers of persons are satisfied and happy with the result that is taken up (Tavani, 2004: 234 - 244). This is relatively much better than the Kantian Deontology or any other deontology approach as this takes into consideration the importance of satisfying people and tries to build a foundation with complete justice (Rachels, 1998: 226 - 240). Here in the case of Utilitarianism, the main aim is to ensure that all parties involved are benefiting from the decision made and there is a high level of success for a number of people in the case. This method (utilitarianism) takes everybody to be equal and it looks for a solution which is for the benefit of more number of people (Held, 2006:

Eudora Weltys A Worn Path Essay -- Eudora Welty Worn Path Essays

Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" Throughout time, people have traveled the trodden course of life, overcoming obstacles along the way and grasping onto hope to strengthen their steps. In her short story â€Å"A Worn Path†, Eudora Welty communicates this timeless theme through the protagonist, Phoenix, who has traveled this path many times. Through her usage of dialogue and symbolism, Welty illustrates the lasting concept that people conquer hardships in life and ultimately prevail. Welty utilizes dialogue to portray how others belittle Phoenix and attempt to destroy her dignity in vain. Along her journey, Phoenix meets several people with look down on her for her old age. First, the Satan figure, the hunter calls her â€Å"Granny† and encourages her to return home. He also mocks her race when he claims he â€Å"know[s] you old colored people.† However, Phoenix is not discouraged by the hunter as evident in her fearlessness when the hunter carelessly points his gun at her. This is also obvious when she refuses to return home in the face of the hunter’s persuasion. Welty uses the hunte...

Synthesis Paper on Gay Marriage

Caroline Treinen Ms. Pajer English 101 Synthesis Essay Who are we to dictate who someone loves? The definition of love is the action that two people share. The definition does not say love only occurs between a man and a woman. The article, â€Å"Gay marriage proposals destructive to society, Vatican official says,† is an argument against gay marriage. The author, John Thavis, claims that homosexuals are just struggling to find themselves and that same-sex marriage disrupts the normal sexuality and fertility of a couple.In â€Å"Support for Homosexuals’ Civil Liberties†, Kristin Kenneavy discusses how religious outlooks influence a family’s beliefs on same sex marriage. The two articles show the different views on gay marriage by explaining different attitudes toward homosexuality, the future implications of gay marriage and the role that religion determines when it comes to beliefs on same-sex marriage. The American gay movement was inspired from Germany because in 1867 â€Å"a renegade legal scholar named Karl Heinrich Ulrichs went before the Congress of German Jurists, in Munich, to plead for the repeal of sodomy laws†(Ross).Magnus Hirschfeld had established the first gay-rights organization. Henry Gerber founded a Society for Human Rights in Chicago. New York then turned into a very popular gay life town. New York even â€Å"passed laws against cross-dressing, onstage representations of homosexuals, and gatherings of gays in clubs†(Ross). One of the main reasons that people look down upon gay marriage is because the Bible states that a man and woman need to come together as one in order for the human race to be successful and to reproduce.If the number of gay and lesbian couples grow, the human population won’t and America will struggle with our leadership position as one of the strongest countries in the world. Most people would agree that same-sex marriage is a sin, but so is abortion, gluttony, and stealin g, but everyone still performs those deeds. Why are they wasting so much time arguing about same-sex marriage and not paying any attention to any of the other sins that so many people perform?In â€Å"Gay marriage proposals destructive to society, Vatican official says,† Cardinal Ratzinger asserts that â€Å"recent legislative proposals for gay marriage are part of a larger modern rupture between sexuality and fertility. † He is stating that gay marriage could destroy the status quo of marriage. He argues that normal marriage is a man and a woman uniting as one, not a man and a man or a woman and a woman. A man and a woman are meant to be together not only for physical purposes, but also for moral ones.There is no way that two men or two women could be together morally because it is not in the Bible. He states that homosexuals are considered people who are suffering and want to find their way, but making gay marriage legal doesn’t really help these people. Ratzi nger said that â€Å"this is a trend that separates us from all the great culture of humanity, which have always recognized the particular significance of sexuality: that a man and a woman are created to jointly be the guarantee of the future of humanity. †On the other hand, in â€Å"Support for Homosexuals’ Civil Liberties†, the author states â€Å"traditional gender role attitudes and support for homosexuals’ civil liberties are found to negatively co-vary over time. † Religious attitudes differ in both their approaches to the roles of men and women in family settings and their approach towards homosexuality. The author explains that typical household is a male, who has a job, and a female, who is a housewife and children, who usually just go to school and watch cartoons.If two men are a part of a household, it destroys the stereotypical household and the familial dynamic. Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI â€Å" said gay ma rriage proposals were just one example of the tremendous changes challenging European culture. † He believes that gay marriage promotes the idea that any type of union is morally acceptable, which in this case it is not because it is destroying the status quo of normal marriage. Ratzinger claims that the European culture has â€Å"passed from a Christian culture to an aggressive form of secularism that at times is intolerant.As an example of this intolerance, the cardinal cited a case in Sweden where a Christian minister was imprisoned for preaching against homosexuality on the basis of Scripture. † Ratzinger is complaining that his perfect Catholic culture is turning into a distorted version of secularism, which asserts the right to be free from religious rule and teachings. Someone who preaches against homosexuality can risk imprisonment because it is against Catholic beliefs. In â€Å"Support for Homosexuals’ Civil Liberties†, Kenneacy also comments on the future implications of gay marriage.Religious beliefs play an important role in defining social acceptance and functions of families. Gays and lesbians don’t receive worldwide support when it comes to protection of their civil liberties because they aren’t considered full citizens. He writes that â€Å"heterosexual dominance works by reserving the private sphere of romance, marriage, and family for heterosexuals only. That dominance is legitimated by constructing lesbians and gays as natural outlaws to the family. † Lesbian and gay couples aren’t considered natural, which is why they are basically shunned from being considered natural.More liberal religious traditions have supported the practicing homosexuals. The conservative religions have been in groups that are vocally opposed to civil liberties for gay men and lesbian women. Cardinal Ratzinger considers religion to be a big determination in his belief that same-sex marriage should not be allowed. He states that â€Å"Islam represents a special challenge for Europeans. In a positive sense, he said, Christians should be reflecting on the deep religious practice of Muslims, their firm faith in God, their awareness that we â€Å"are all under God’s judgment† and the observance of common religious practices. But he also believes that Muslims should learn from the Christians and how religious freedom is important to them. Kenneavy believes that the Catholic Church determines the belief in same sex marriage and â€Å"has unequivocally voiced its view that the acceptance of homosexuality threatens the family because homosexual family forms are not ordained by God. † The duties of a husband and women are supposed to be performed by a man and a woman, not two men or two women. In the Bible, a family of two men or two females is not natural. It is not right.Although many Catholics look negatively upon homosexuals and marriage, other individual Catholics may no ne cessarily completely go along with the church policy about homosexuality. But other than that most Catholics are considered to have conservative beliefs when it comes to accepting homosexuals. One of these articles supports gay marriage and the other one strongly doesn’t, but they both have a sense of Catholicism, which states that marriage should be between a man and a woman. The Catholic Church believes that homosexuality threatens the family because homosexual family forms are not in the bible.Bibliography Brewer, Paul R. â€Å"The Shifting Foundations of Public Opinion about Gay Rights. † Journal of Politics 65. 4 (2003): 1208-1220. Business Source Complete. Web. Kenneavy, Kristin. â€Å"Support for Homosexuals’ Civil Liberties: The Influence of Familial Gender Role Attitudes Across Religious Denominations. † Project Muse 90. 4 (2012). Web. Ross, Alex. â€Å"Love on the March. †Ã‚  The New Yorker. N. p. , 12 Nov. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. .

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