Number 47
Ken Burns' documentary about the Lewis and Clark expedition noted that someone in the expedition named the Nez Perce tribe as an interpretation of a hand gesture one member of the tribe made in an attempt to communicate their name. But they did not have pierced noses. The Nez Perce web site says:
We, the Nez Perce people, call ourselves Nimi'ipuu, which means the "real people" or "we the people." A tribal elder (Cecil Carter) mentioned a name we (Nimi'ipuu) used to call ourselves before we had horses, the name meant we walked out of the woods or walked out of the mountains, Cuupn'itpel'uu. He said it was an old word, before we used Nimi'ipuu. . . .The name "Nez Perce" was given to us through an interpreter with the 1805 Lewis and Clark expedition. The French Canadians interpreted the meaning as "Pierced Nose." However this cultural practice was not common to the Nimi'ipuu.
I have heard that most peoples' names for themselves, for their tribe, group, clan, nation, have meant something like "the people" (or perhaps THE people). Anyway, why would anyone have interpreted a gesture (presumably touching the nose) as meaning "we are the Pierced Noses" when the people didn't actually have pierced noses? Is it any wonder verbal communication, so much more abstract than gestures, is so fraught with confusion? The West Indies and American Indians were so called by mistake also.
It might be fun to go around renaming people to suit myself, and insist that the new name is what I heard or deduced from them. And speaking of calling people names. . .
In response to a discussion of "ladies and gentlemen" in PO 37, a reader responded (at least a couple of months ago):
And then there are those rude souls, usually male (but NOT gentlemen), who use "lady" in a quite derogatory way, as in "F'Chrissakes, lady, keep that damn car on YOUR side of the road", sometimes accompanied by the 1-finger salute. (Such rudeness has never been directed at me, of course.) He's not using "lady" as a term of respect, but substituting "woman" for "lady" doesn't have quite the same impact.I was on the receiving end of an (unintended) gaffe a few weeks ago, delivered by a young coworker who had the good grace to be horrified at what she had said. Several of us had been afflicted with the sillies over lunch, and she said to me, "You're such a lady now, but I bet you were fun when you were younger." I rather resented the implication that "ladies" were not fun, and by extension neither was I, at least not when I was in lady mode. She apologized profusely for the way it had sounded, didn't believe me when I told her I was grateful that a few vestiges of "being fun" were still visible, and that it took more than a poor choice of words to offend me. Shucks ~ she's a computer techie, I'm a word techie ~ and I can't speak HER language at all!
I share her consternation though perhaps not her ladylike graciousness. But her story got me to thinking about the generic, impersonal terms we use with strangers sometimes, "lady" being one of the most common, without its meanings of either noblewoman or genteel woman, just "woman." Which could be worse. When I was quite a young lady I remember being pleased once, or maybe just relieved, when a young man hollered across the street at me, "Hey woman!" Could have been worse; anyway it was unusual. "Lady" may not always be respectful, but. . .
And how about the familial forms of address, such as "Listen, brother" or "sister" or "son" (or maybe "sonny" or "sonny boy"). I don't think any other family ties are invoked in similar situations. No one says "Listen up, daughter" or "nephew" to non-relatives, for example. Other familial titles have rather different implications if used with strangers, and the context shows whether or not they are respectful. But "brother" and "sister" may be more or less equivalent to "buddy" or "pal."
One of my students from Latin America, a young woman of around 30, commented on being called "ma'am" here in the States by salesclerks and so on. It does make ladies feel old. One of the nice things I noticed about Boston and environs when I moved there from Kansas was being called "miss" instead of "ma'am." I could be 90 and they'd still call me "miss." However, perhaps contradictorily, I didn't like being called a "girl" when I was past 30 and a mother of two. I couldn't live up (or down) to girlishness and was aiming for respect. Also, when boys of 25 were asking me about the "old days," I didn't want to be suspected of trying to pass for a decade younger than I was.
A military news analyst on TV has said, more than once, "weapons cash-ay." Undoubtedly he means "cache," a hiding place for weapons, which has one syllable, "cash." "Cachet" is a seal or mark of distinction and has two syllables. If he'd only read, not heard, the word "cache" then that mispronunciation would be understandable, and considering they're both French words, well, what can one expect. Nevertheless, it's a fairly common military term and a man of his experience ought to have noticed the difference by now.
From a TV show on restoring antique quilts: "The approach to the restoration process will be different in each case." Try simply "the restoration process" or even "restoration."
Radio sports talk, about a caller's observation on a player's attitude: "I referenced that same mind set."
I don't really like "reference" as a verb, but it is acceptable to mean something like "footnote" or "refer to." This radio chatterer seems to have meant "noticed."
A woman's weekly supermarket magazine features a new diet on the cover of every issue ~ a new diet every week. This week it promises you can lose weight without dieting ~ as long as you eat the foods that are known to help you lose weight while you wear the magic bracelet. Is that not a diet? I'll give you the answer: yes, it is.
(By the way, I insist that everyone stop using the word "sin" to refer to chocolate or any other tasty food. Stop it right now. Gluttony is a sin. Enjoying food is not sinful, nor is food itself. Respect your food, and it will respect you. That's why people have customarily said thanks before meals, not penance. Save "sin" for something that deserves the name. And I promise you'll lose weight.)
A drugstore that sells lots of items sold "only on TV" now carries "the ultimate fat burning and body sculpting workout," which is basically a stick in a box. "Ultimate" is used the same way "unique" is used: both actually mean something than which there is nothing better, bigger, further, or whatever quality is implied, but they are used as mere intensifiers. Think of them as the "est," not the "er," of their modifier series ~ but in fact, they are beyond "good, better, best." They are alone in their class.
Mnemonics:
Sign in a big store: "Limit of 6 coupons per item. We want to provide equal opportunity for all our guests." Aside from the meaningless allusion to government nondiscrimination programs, when did retail customers become "guests"? What's wrong with being a customer? A customer of a hotel or restaurant may correctly be called a guest, as the services sold are substitutes for what you might find at home ~ a bed or a meal. But there's no corollary in a department store. If I'm a guest, I expect them to give me things for free. If the store wants to be more refined than it's entitled to be (it's Meijer's), it can call its customers "patrons."
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