Date: Tue, 21 Nov 1995 08:42:22 -0500
From: Wayne Glowka wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU
Subject: Re: PC Language
WayneG wrote: "If we slip up and say "dorms," we get corrected."
By whom, Wayne???
Bethany
By people who work in student affairs--and by their student agents. During
orientation, the students are told that they live in residence halls, not
dorms. Dorms are places that don't matter to the people. Residence halls
are places the students can call home. The students also eat in a dining
hall, not a cafeteria.
You have to remember that at a small college, faculty are in constant touch
with faculty from other disciplines and with people from all kinds of
administrative offices. Half the time when one goes to a party--say with a
keg or a chest of beer--even the lowliest can sit and chat with the
president and his wife.
Speaking of self-elevating terms, when I worked at a department store in
Pennsylvania, my manager hated being called a "clerk" by customers. He
would correct them and tell them that he was a manager. We all wore name
tags announcing that we were "sales associates." All of the people in
management and personnel called us "sales associates." I figured that the
name was supposed to dull the sting of minimum wage. It was always
embarrassing to go to the bank on payday.
Wayne Glowka
Professor of English
Director of Research and Graduate Student Services
Georgia College
Milledgeville, GA 31061
912-453-4222
wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu