4 ms·

Some dictionary definitions of violence from Merriam Webster: 2: injury by or as if by distortion, infringement, or profanation : OUTRAGE 3a: intense, turbule

by dangus 4y ago

Some dictionary definitions of violence from Merriam Webster: 2: injury by or as if by distortion, infringement, or profanation : OUTRAGE 3a: intense, turbulent, or furious and often destructive action or force the violence of the storm b: vehement feeling or expression : FERVOR also: an instance of such action or feeling c: a clashing or jarring quality : DISCORDANCE Maybe the choice of language is strong but I don't think the word is being used incorrectly.

richbell 4y ago
> Maybe the choice of language is strong but I don't think the word is being used incorrectly. My gripe is that it's manipulative rhetoric. The term "violence" evokes very specific meaning to the average person, physical violence, and describing non-physical actions and concepts as "violence" is an attempt to manipulate people emotionally. If someone told you they were subject to violence at the airport would you really assume anything except physical assault or intimidation? I have seen countless examples of activists calling speech they don't like "violence", "anti-blackness", or a myriad of other buzzwords — and I am talking about mild disagreements or asking for proof, not anything near hate-speech, bigotry, or promoting violence. It's a deliberate tactic to garner sympathy and support, and I do not like how normalized its use has become.
- dangus 4y ago
  How is it manipulative? What is this person trying to manipulate us into believing? They're just saying that authorities tend to give them a hard time more frequently than more conventionally accepted groups, which doesn't sound like much of a stretch to me.
- FrontierPsych 4y ago
  I went to a hotel, and they had the softest down mattresses and $4,000 pillows and $8,000 softest sheets and $15,000 blankets. I thought this was extreme violence to make me feel so non-violent and comfortable, because after all, the United States of America is violent against every other person in the world,even their own citizens, so my supreme comfort was violence as they made me feel comfortable to forget how violent the world and the USA is. My being the most comfortable and the most safe I've ever been is the most extreme violence that the USA can do to me.
notadev 4y ago
Merriam Webster has recently been changing definitions to appease activists or governments, so I would caution against using them as a neutral source. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/merriam-webster-changes-female-definition/ar-AAZNnwf https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/merriam-webster-changes-fe... https://nypost.com/2020/06/09/merriam-webster-will-update-definition-of-racism-after-a-request/ https://nypost.com/2020/06/09/merriam-webster-will-update-de...
- josephcsible 4y ago
  Don't forget "vaccine": https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=50886 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=50886
- ashwagary 4y ago
  I dont believe this is only a recent phenomenon. English dictionaries have been altering definitions on behalf of the ruling class for centuries.
- dangus 4y ago
  You're preaching at me about neutral sources while throwing conservative AM talk radio and Rupert Murdoch newspaper links my way. That's kind of ironic and hypocritical. Dictionary definitions are supposed to change over time as all languages change over time. All dictionaries modify their definitions because there's no such thing as a static language. Words are also allowed to have more than one definition. "Run" can mean a whole host of different things. [1] This means it's completely reasonable for the definition of "female" (one example from your links) to expand and change as people change their level of acceptance of transgender people and therefore how they use words referring to gender. There's no law that says the word "female" must only refer to biological sex, just like the word "run" has been given a new definition to mean "execute a program" after the invention of computers. But you won't complain about that change because it's got nothing to do with all the hurting of minorities that is the foundation of contemporary conservative ideology. [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/run https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/run
  - 4y ago

by dangus 4y ago

richbell 4y ago

> Maybe the choice of language is strong but I don't think the word is being used incorrectly. My gripe is that it's manipulative rhetoric. The term "violence" evokes very specific meaning to the average person, physical violence, and describing non-physical actions and concepts as "violence" is an attempt to manipulate people emotionally. If someone told you they were subject to violence at the airport would you really assume anything except physical assault or intimidation? I have seen countless examples of activists calling speech they don't like "violence", "anti-blackness", or a myriad of other buzzwords — and I am talking about mild disagreements or asking for proof, not anything near hate-speech, bigotry, or promoting violence. It's a deliberate tactic to garner sympathy and support, and I do not like how normalized its use has become.

dangus 4y ago
How is it manipulative? What is this person trying to manipulate us into believing? They're just saying that authorities tend to give them a hard time more frequently than more conventionally accepted groups, which doesn't sound like much of a stretch to me.
FrontierPsych 4y ago
I went to a hotel, and they had the softest down mattresses and $4,000 pillows and $8,000 softest sheets and $15,000 blankets. I thought this was extreme violence to make me feel so non-violent and comfortable, because after all, the United States of America is violent against every other person in the world,even their own citizens, so my supreme comfort was violence as they made me feel comfortable to forget how violent the world and the USA is. My being the most comfortable and the most safe I've ever been is the most extreme violence that the USA can do to me.

notadev 4y ago

Merriam Webster has recently been changing definitions to appease activists or governments, so I would caution against using them as a neutral source. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/merriam-webster-changes-female-definition/ar-AAZNnwf https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/merriam-webster-changes-fe... https://nypost.com/2020/06/09/merriam-webster-will-update-definition-of-racism-after-a-request/ https://nypost.com/2020/06/09/merriam-webster-will-update-de...

josephcsible 4y ago
Don't forget "vaccine": https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=50886 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=50886
ashwagary 4y ago
I dont believe this is only a recent phenomenon. English dictionaries have been altering definitions on behalf of the ruling class for centuries.
dangus 4y ago
You're preaching at me about neutral sources while throwing conservative AM talk radio and Rupert Murdoch newspaper links my way. That's kind of ironic and hypocritical. Dictionary definitions are supposed to change over time as all languages change over time. All dictionaries modify their definitions because there's no such thing as a static language. Words are also allowed to have more than one definition. "Run" can mean a whole host of different things. [1] This means it's completely reasonable for the definition of "female" (one example from your links) to expand and change as people change their level of acceptance of transgender people and therefore how they use words referring to gender. There's no law that says the word "female" must only refer to biological sex, just like the word "run" has been given a new definition to mean "execute a program" after the invention of computers. But you won't complain about that change because it's got nothing to do with all the hurting of minorities that is the foundation of contemporary conservative ideology. [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/run https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/run
- 4y ago