On the psychology of euphemisms...

A long time ago, back when I used to write a lot of articles for computer magazines, I was invited to beta-test and later, "seed" the Byte Information Exchange (BIX). It was a very lively community at the time (~1984?) that covered a broad range of topics, both technical and not.

From time to time, whenever I hear a new, euphemized term introduced into the language, I am reminded of a post made by one of the other "early adopters" on BIX, and until a few minutes ago, I dispaired of ever reproducing the same clarity of expression in discussing what one might call the "psychology of euphemisms." In flipping through an old dead-wood journal, though, I found the following note, based on that post:

Some time after being founded, the Rome (NY) Hospital for the Feebleminded became the Rome Hospital for the Retarded. Later, it was renamed the Rome Mental Hospital. Still later, it was renamed the Rome Center for the Developmentally Disabled. Today, it is the Rome Facility for the Emotionally and Developmentally Challenged.

Changing the words never helps to reduce the predjudice. It just gives the word-cointers the nice, warm, fuzzy illusion of really having done something about the problem.

According to this journal, I was still participating in BIX in 1991.

Cheers...

Glide path...

Snow keeps falling, and I'm sure it's accumulating pretty well up at altitude, but down here, you can tell it's too warm to do much more than stick to other snow already on the ground because it doesn't accumulate in the pine boughs (except overnight, until the sun comes up again). Of course, the assumption is that the sun is up, because I don't think I've seen the sky for several days. Then again, the fact that the snow is not sticking, like, on the roads is pretty welcome news.

I spent most of the day editing, which put me in a mood sour enough to inquire about a job translating an air conditioner manual for a guy in Belarus. The rate was ridiculously low, but the job was short enough for me to risk offering to do the work if the deadline was long enough. My offer was rejected, but at least we were talking. I actually have one other response circulating out there, to translate a web site, but the prospect of getting that job fades with each passing day.

No biggie. There's plenty of paper to chase anyway.

Time to go upstairs and do something useful, like rub Galina's feet.

Cheers...