[lbo-talk] baa baa black sheep

[John Thornton]

Miles Jackson wrote:
> Shane Mage wrote:
>
>   
>> But it is exactly historical reality, the extended family of linguistically
>> similar words, that provides the unconscious impact--the 
>> connotations--that are essential to the real meanings of words.
>>     
>
> I don't follow this.  The "real meaning of words" is the way they are 
> used by speakers of a language in a given time and place.  How could the 
> use of a language at some point in the past have some "unconscious 
> impact" upon people?  Their unconscious magically knows how a term was 
> used in the past?
>
> --If people are unaware of the historical use of a term, the actual 
> "meaning" of the word for that group of people is the current use.
>
> Miles

The 'real meaning' of the word is not what is at the heart of the debate 
but rather the perceived history of its usage.
When people erroneously believe the black in Baa Baa Black Sheep is a 
racial reference from the past some desire to discard its usage.
That is a bad idea. Better to educate people on the real history of the 
rhyme.

Niggardly is a good example of the 'real' meaning of a word changing. It 
is nothing but a racial slur to many people. In essence the meaning of 
niggardly has changed for a large segment of the population.

John Thornton