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People are not going to forget this came from Wuhan whether you call it the Wuhan Flu or not. I understand that the intentions are benevolent, but policing lan

People are not going to forget this came from Wuhan whether you call it the Wuhan Flu or not. I understand that the intentions are benevolent, but policing language does not change reality. No more than stigmatizing the word "retard" (originally a scientific term like moron, imbecile, idiot, and all the rest) will change people's responses to those with mental disabilities. The downside to this kind of stigmatization is that people start to abuse it as soft cultural power, which breeds resentment and discord among the population. I'd be willing to guess it's literally one of the peculiar Western cultural features those "evil Russian hackers" (and other nation states) are targeting to wedge society apart.

gwd 7y ago
> The downside to this kind of stigmatization is that people start to abuse it as soft cultural power Humans have been enforcing social norms for at least as long as we have written history. And people have probably been abusing that habit for just as long. Some social norms are good; others are bad. Some ways of enforcing social norms are polite, others are annoying, others (Twitter mobs) can be horrifying. I would consider "Let's call this the coronavirus, or CORVID-19, out of consideration for Wuhan 10 years from now" as at least a reasonable one; and a polite request on Hackernews is hardly going to give you PTSD or ruin your life. In other words: I understand where you're coming from, but "My right to call this the Wuhan virus" is a funny hill to choose to die on. :-)
- jshevek 7y ago
  >My right to call this the Wuhan virus" is a funny hill to choose to die on. Please don't severely misrepresent the intentions and arguments of the other party.
- magduf 7y ago
  >Let's call this the coronavirus Because it's not "the coronavirus" any more than the Spanish Flu is "the flu". The Spanish Flu was one pandemic that happened with one strain of the flu; it's not the same flu that we get every year. Similarly, COVID-19 or whatever we end up calling it in the future is not "the coronavirus", because that term applies to MANY different viruses, including MERS and SARS.

gwd 7y ago

> The downside to this kind of stigmatization is that people start to abuse it as soft cultural power Humans have been enforcing social norms for at least as long as we have written history. And people have probably been abusing that habit for just as long. Some social norms are good; others are bad. Some ways of enforcing social norms are polite, others are annoying, others (Twitter mobs) can be horrifying. I would consider "Let's call this the coronavirus, or CORVID-19, out of consideration for Wuhan 10 years from now" as at least a reasonable one; and a polite request on Hackernews is hardly going to give you PTSD or ruin your life. In other words: I understand where you're coming from, but "My right to call this the Wuhan virus" is a funny hill to choose to die on. :-)

jshevek 7y ago
>My right to call this the Wuhan virus" is a funny hill to choose to die on. Please don't severely misrepresent the intentions and arguments of the other party.
magduf 7y ago
>Let's call this the coronavirus Because it's not "the coronavirus" any more than the Spanish Flu is "the flu". The Spanish Flu was one pandemic that happened with one strain of the flu; it's not the same flu that we get every year. Similarly, COVID-19 or whatever we end up calling it in the future is not "the coronavirus", because that term applies to MANY different viruses, including MERS and SARS.