3 ms·

Maybe "kidnapped into servitude/slavery" is more accurate?

• morelisp 4y ago
  Both "impressment" and "conscription" are more accurate and actually descriptive. (Though one form, "impressed", can be vague due its homonym.) (Since I'm getting downvoted anyway - anyone avoiding the overwhelmingly more common near-synonym, "drafted", is doing so because they don't like to remember that the US can still do it, too.)
  • viridian 4y ago
    I personally feel that conscription/drafting carries a different connotation than impressment/shanghai'ing, but maybe that's just due to the historical context in which they were used. The former I expect to be a highly managed process through which the state renders you unable to seek employment, housing, education, free movement etc, in order to coerce or capture you violating the law, encouraging you to present yourself willingly rather than dealing with criminal charges in addition to or instead of conscription. The latter, my expectation is that mercenary recruiters, driven by sales team esque metrics, eventually resort to pulling random young men off the street, out of bars, etc, based on a best guess of the young man's age. It's far more chaotic, error prone, and disruptive to family life, while being less coersive.