The Shepherdsville Times: Euphemophobe
...Euphemophobe. I think I may have just coined that word. Can't find it on Google, Amazon.com or Wikipedia. What I mean is a person with an abiding dislike for the overuse of euphemisms. Me, for instance...
Jerry Selby is annoyed by mealy-mouthed politically correct doublespeak.
Wikipedia
Are you acquainted yet with Wikipedia, the interactive encyclopedia? If not, don't wait. It is what I thought a personal computer would do for me before I ever owned one. And those who claim to know about such things say that it is proving to be as accurate and detailed as the oldest and most respected.
Once you have a decent modem and learn the basics of Wiki, Amazon.com, and Google you are in the center of the most powerful library, which has ever existed. And you don't need more than a grade school education to understand most of it.
Euphemophobe
I think I may have just coined that word. Can't find it on Google, Amazon.com or Wikipedia. What I mean is a person with an abiding dislike for the overuse of euphemisms. Me, for instance.
What got me going was a column in the other local daily paper. I'm sure the couple who write it are nice folks, but they got sort of carried away with their own words last week. I gather they have a couple of kids who have some sort of problems. They were upset to hear a classmate characterize one as 'the wheelchair boy' at a class function.
And they really got up on their soapboxes when it came to the wide use of the term 'Handicapped.' They came up with a rather long and convoluted supposed etymology relating the word to a beggar with cap in hand. Actually that is an 'urban legend' which has only surfaced recently, and is false. If you disagree, explain how that origin relates to handicapping sports betting, or insurance risk analysis.
Avie and I carry the little 'Handicapped card' which the auto license branch issues, on presentation of a note from your doctor, to folk who need to park near the building entrance of a large store or office. Avie has an arthritic knee, and I should have quit smoking ten years sooner.
What particularly get under my hide are those smarmy, nose-in-the-air, holier than thou politically correct examples of doublespeak. 'Differently abled,' 'mobility challenged,' I used to be young and skinny. Now I'm age enriched and solidly built. Ugly, too. And bald. But my head still works fine, handicapped or otherwise.
Honesty
'The best measure of a man's honesty isn't his income tax return. it's the zero adjust on his bathroom scale.' — Arthur C. Clarke
© Jerry Selby
