Sorting Out The New Jargon

[TabbyAnn]

I haven’t written much in the last few years or kept up with the new social/political jargon, But this week I encountered a new word and decided it was time to update myself. The word was judeophobic. The judeo part is self-explanatory and the phobic part is usually misused.

Phobic gets applied to anyone who dislikes anything these days. I dislike religions that discriminate against women, such as Mormon fundamentalism and Islam. In today’s jargon I might be labeled Mormonophobic and Islamophobic because I dislike their gynophobia and judeophobia.

There’s also a campaign to prevent fear of what is called “the other” with “the other” being anything unlike yourself. This could include strange men in vans offering candy to kids walking down the street, or snakes with the markings of a rattler. It’s not politically correct to form negative opinions about these things until they kill you or your kids.

Other terms I need to clarify are xenophobic, conspiratorial, gender acronyms, and the improper use of the word hate. I think the gender preference acronyms may be LGBTQ or something like that. I think the G may mean gay and the Q queer. But I thought these two were the same? So I still have some research to do.

 

[Robb.hisself]

So I still have some research to do.

I read your thread and found it to be more like a diary entry which ends with you telling yourself you need to do more research. So what do you want from SF?

 

[oldaunt]

I read your thread and found it to be more like a diary entry which ends with you telling yourself you need to do more research. So what do you want from SF?

Why would she have to 'want' something to start a conversation?

 

[Lewkat]

Phobic is definitely not the meaning of dislike. It means, fear of. Now, if all these misused words flying about in social conversation today are to be taken literally, everyone should be cowering in fear somewhere in a dark corner.

 

[Robb.hisself]

Why would she have to 'want' something to start a conversation?

Seems you too have nothing to say about the thread as I. With respect to my remark you may not agree but, also have no reply to the thread.

 

[Pepper]

Using the word in a sentence: When I was a little girl at a Purim Party all the grownups in masks made me judeophobic.

I've never heard or saw the word before.

 

[Buckeye]

Well, in the 1961/1962 school year I studied Latin. As I recall, and as Lewkat pointed out, "phobic" would mean fear, not hate. And, more importantly, my Google search agrees with my memory.

So 10th grade wasn't a total loss...

 

[Tommy]

There are sooooo many cringe-worthy misuses of words today. Homophobia literally means "fear of sameness". Chauvinism simply means extreme bias toward one's group or cause; hence, in my part of the country we find a lot of Boston Red Sox chauvinists. Technology is a general term that refers to the application of scientific knowledge to addressing practical challenges. The list goes on and on . . .

Today, being heard is apparently far more important than being understood.

 

[oldaunt]

What else would you expect from a society that can't even use 'too' or 'rein' properly

 

[Fyrefox]

It’s difficult to impossible to keep up with jargon and slang as they change rapidly, often becoming archaic and amusing or even evolving to mean something else entirely. Can you remember when people said they were in “gay company,” or had a “gay old time,” for example?

So just find jargon and slang that you like, and stay privately with it. I’ve always liked that of the jazz age!

 

[Judycat]

We used to call words like those "buzz words".

 

[VaughanJB]

Well, I don't see this thread going well. It feels like a thinly veiled attack on various groups of people. But, oh well.

These are just words used to describe various points of view.

Phobia: "an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something."

It's that simple. If something is appended to "Phobia" the meaning should be clear.

As for "fear of the other", it's been a political tactic going back to the 1300's, but was probably most prevalent in the US with McCarthyism. Essentially, groups of people, or even entire nations, are seen as bad or dangerous because they're different from another group in beliefs, actions, or just because. There have been countless examples of this through hundreds of years. For example, in 1889 there was a pandemic of flu, it was dubbed "Russian Flu", even though it hadn't originated there. When syphilis was first identified in 1490, it was known as the "French disease".

Fear of the other is a classic strategy that works time and time again. You certainly see it at play today in US politics, where, in my estimation, Americans who you likely work with, talk to, are served by, and may be your friends are actually hated for having an opinion that differs from your own. It happens on both sides, though some are more guilty than others, imo.

To directly address the OP's words, fear of the other is fine if it's accurate and productive. So, when it refers to criminal behavior, then it's accurate and proper to consider them "other". If it's just because someone was born some other place, it's not. Essentially I'd say, if you apply common sense it's not difficult to discern whether the term is being used properly or not.

However, saying that, what people don't like about "Fear of the other" is that it's a well used, well understood, tactic used to gain an advantage, and to rile up hatred. In political terms, it's used to win over groups of people, whether the fear is real or not. That's the primary use, and should therefore be thought of as a weak practice. It's "playing to the gallery", it's lazy.

Still, words can be misused, and are often misunderstood. For example:

Homophobia literally means "fear of sameness".

Erm, no. The Oxford dictionary defines "Homophobia" as "dislike of or prejudice against gay people".

Of course, many of the terms in the OP are simply trigger words these days. They're used to rile the masses and to get people angry about things that actually have no impact on their lives. For example, judeophobic. I'd not seen it before, but so what? If I've not seen it, how could it bother me in any way? What impact has it had in my life? None. Absolute zero.

I'm currently reading a book of fiction, and the author had a medical background. He uses all kinds of terms I have to look up, I've never heard them before, and don't know the meanings other than what I can make out from context. Guess what? That's MY ignorance. There's nothing bad about learning a new word.

And seriously, even of the English language, how many words do we really know? Turns out, there are over a million words in English. Each individual uses around 20,000 to 30,000 of them, and only 170,000 are in common usage today. So, it's not surprising that we come across words we haven't yet come across. In addition, in 2022 alone, 650 new words were added to the Oxford Dictionary. The language grows all the time.

Still, I think the OP is more a bit of a troll on this topic. If I'm wrong, I apologize upfront.

 

[gruntlabor]

I haven’t written much in the last few years or kept up with the new social/political jargon, But this week I encountered a new word and decided it was time to update myself. The word was judeophobic. The judeo part is self-explanatory and the phobic part is usually misused.

Phobic gets applied to anyone who dislikes anything these days. I dislike religions that discriminate against women, such as Mormon fundamentalism and Islam. In today’s jargon I might be labeled Mormonophobic and Islamophobic because I dislike their gynophobia and judeophobia.

There’s also a campaign to prevent fear of what is called “the other” with “the other” being anything unlike yourself. This could include strange men in vans offering candy to kids walking down the street, or snakes with the markings of a rattler. It’s not politically correct to form negative opinions about these things until they kill you or your kids.

Other terms I need to clarify are xenophobic, conspiratorial, gender acronyms, and the improper use of the word hate. I think the gender preference acronyms may be LGBTQ or something like that. I think the G may mean gay and the Q queer. But I thought these two were the same? So I still have some research to do.

Use of the word 'phobic' as a synonym for 'disapproving' as always annoyed me too.

 

[TabbyAnn]

Well, I don't see this thread going well. It feels like a thinly veiled attack on various groups of people.

I thought it went well. What various groups do you feel are being attacked.?

 

[TabbyAnn]

I read your thread and found it to be more like a diary entry which ends with you telling yourself you need to do more research. So what do you want from SF?

I want nothing from you. Please feel free to move on.

 

[VaughanJB]

I thought it went well. What various groups do you feel are being attacked.?

I think it reads a bit like a rant from Alex Jones or perhaps a Fox News host.

You know, I sometimes hear kids on the street talking to each other, and I don't understand much of what they're saying. They use words (albeit mostly only one or two syllables long) that didn't seem to be about what I was a nipper. At some point, the whole LBG... whatever, will fade into the background and new words will be used. The gender argument will dissipate, and youngsters on the internet will look back on their posts and have a good laugh at themselves. And people will grapple with the idea that if they demand freedom of expression and action, then it must apply to all, and if some of that all wants to change sex or hold a particular belief, you simply have to accept it.

I do somewhat follow the whole gender debate, for example, but it never goes beyond a smirk for me. I don't think the topic will have an impact on my life, and the lives of people I know. When you have politicians suggesting others should be killed, it's small change, imo.

 

[TabbyAnn]

I think it reads a bit like a rant from Alex Jones or perhaps a Fox News host.

You know, I sometimes hear kids on the street talking to each other, and I don't understand much of what they're saying. They use words (albeit mostly only one or two syllables long) that didn't seem to be about what I was a nipper. At some point, the whole LBG... whatever, will fade into the background and new words will be used. The gender argument will dissipate, and youngsters on the internet will look back on their posts and have a good laugh at themselves. And people will grapple with the idea that if they demand freedom of expression and action, then it must apply to all, and if some of that all wants to change sex or hold a particular belief, you simply have to accept it.

Your post #12 said my post feels like a thinly veiled attack on various groups of people.
When I asked you what groups? you completely avoided an answer and wandered off into your own misty veiled world, talking about Alex Jones and your own theories and opinions. I’m not familiar with Alex Jones. I’ve never seen, heard, read or mentioned him, and I never mentioned Fox news. You tend to have difficulty in responding to what is actually written.