Date:  Tue, 15 Jul 1997 12:03:39 -0400
From:  Gareth Branwyn <GarethB2[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM>
Subject: McDonalds vs. the OED?

Thought ADS-L readers would find this interesting. This is a joke, right? The
OED wouldn't publish such emphemeral slang, would it? I went to the McLibel
site, and while fascinating, found nothing about this alleged
case.

Gareth

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 16:11:06 +0100
>From: "i.m.mckay" <cllv13[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ccsun.strath.ac.uk>
>To: anarchy-list[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]cwi.nl
>Subject: McJob for McCrunch? (fwd)
>
>
>Subject: McD Menacing the Oxford English Dictionary
>Date: July 13, 1997
>>From: Dazza <ta4091[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]qmw.ac.uk>
>
>The UK paper TheIndependent on Sunday, 22 June, carried a story called "OED
>chickens out over 'McJob'"
>
>The Oxford English Dictionary has been advised by lawyers not to include the
>word "McJob" in its next issue, writes Mark Rowe.
>
>McD's success in the McLibel trial has made the OED wary that the
>multinational may seek to flex its muscles in other areas.
>
>"McJob", to the great displeasure of McDonald's, is widely used as a
euphemism
>for any form of dead-end, low paid employment. The OED believes the word is
in
>common enough useage to be included within its esteemed covers.
>
>The OED says it has yet to make a decision on "McJob", but lawyers have
>suggested it drop the word on legal grounds.
>
>OED Chief editor John Simpson said he intended to use the word in future,
but
>not in the next 3000-word supplementary edition, due out at the end of the
>summer. "We have taken legal advice, since we are aware that companies may
be
>unhappy and object to the tone of such words," he said. "To withdraw any
word
>is against our policy. We have not yet made a decision."
>
>The definition:
>
>McJob n. colloq. (freq. derog) [the name of the McDonalds chain of fast-food
>restaurants, regarded as a typical source of such emplyment + JOB n. Prob.
not
>a direct reference to the programme mentioned in quot. 1985, but rather
based
>on McDonalds' general practice of using Mc- as a preformative element in a
>range of proprietary product names] A poorly paid job with few prospects,
esp.
>one taken by an overqualified worker because of a shortage of other
prospects
>or lack of ambition.
>
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>PO Box 62                    Phone/Fax 802-586-9628
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--------------------------------------------
Gareth Branwyn
garethb2[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]aol.com, http://home.earthlink.net/~garethb2/

Contributing editor, Wired
Co-author of the _Happy Mutant Handbook_ and _Internet Power Toolkit_
Author of _Jargon Watch: A Pocket Dictionary for the Jitterati_ (HardWired)