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Aren't there standards for words to be added to the language by diction? I thought they had to be fairly widely used and used for a while. I have never heard the words "Staycation" or "Recessionista" used, except here. Please tell me the process of adding words to our language is taken more serious than these suggestions indicate.
The term Soccer Mom, Hockey Mom, etc. are an insult to women. My child was a 4-sport athlete in high school, so it's not that I've got something against sports. Those terms imply that women who follow their children's sports have no other identity. In reality -- as all true sports moms know--there are a lot more Dads gathered at the basketball, volleyball, football, etc.games looking for fulfilling, vicarious successes.
If that reason doesn't convince you, let's PLEASE not let Sarah Palin have ANYthing to do with our language!
IndyMom, when you wrote "language by diction" did you mean "language by dictionaries"?
If so, the answer to your question is this: most of the words trumpeted by dictionaries as their words of the year are not currently in their dictionaries and a surprising number--probably most--never make into any mainstream dictionary. Their main standard for these words are that they be interesting enough so that the press will write about them. I say this as someone who has put such lists together for dictionary publishers myself and as someone whose wife worked on one of the lists for one of the publishers this year.
I always thought "soccer mom" implied women who were involved and interested. You know, moms who do more than is necessary, e.g. driving to / attending soccer games and--I guess, by extension--taking an active role in things political. Never struck me as remotely offensive. Have I been living in a non-PC bubble? Because I like my non-PC bubble...
In most of the cases where I have heard soccer mom used, it has been in a pejorative fashion. It seems to be used to describe someone who dresses in sweats, drives a mini-van or an SUV, and is constantly on the go go go. While I believe it is up to the individual to decide whether or not that is a bad thing, those seem to be the factors that decide who gets called that. As with most designations, I am sure there are people that are proud to be hockey/soccer moms, and others who loathe the term. My wife for example would not drive our minivan when we had it due to the stigma of being called a soccer mom.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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