See this entry on "blacklist": http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=blacklist Date: circa 1619 --- Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 11:48:35 -0400 To: Declan McCullagh <declanat_private> From: Neil Schwartzman <neilat_private> Subject: Politically Correct Speech Has Now Oozed Into Spam Fighting Cc: bradat_private At 10:41 AM -0400 5/27/03, it was written by Declan McCullagh: >one person reminding me that "blacklist" has some bad connotations, so >I've switched to "blocklist", which makes sense. So here's the lowdown: I have a strong notion that this started at a company that publishes blacklists during a time when they were being sued into complacency ... and in an attempt to softsell what they were doing to a judge, they coined this horrid new term. However, this perversion of the English language is just sad, under any circumstances. black*list n. A list of persons or organizations that have incurred disapproval or suspicion or are to be boycotted or otherwise penalized. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=blacklist Are we now saying "We approve of spammers, but have arbitrarily decided to stop their traffic"? The aversion to the use of the term is predicated upon the synonymical association of the term to Joseph Macarthy's infamous list of communists, real and imagined, and while I am no etymologist (perhaps I'll drop William Safire a note), I believe the term most certainly was used before and since with a measurable degree of acceptance, and not-too-overwhelming negative connotations, apart from those intrinsic to the term. -- Neil Schwartzman - Editor & Publisher peteMOSS Publications, Industry & Trade Journals <http://spamFLAMES.com><http://peteMOSS.com> spamNEWS is now a daily BLOG & RSS Feed: <http://spamnews.com/blog/> -------------------------------------------------------------------- "Internet access providers, companies that engage in the business of connecting people to the Internet for profit ... assume the role of Internet censors, arbitrarily closing accounts of those of whom they disapprove." - Martha (C&S) Siegel --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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