What's In A Label?

A couple of days ago, I was listening to a recent podcast of Gene Burns, my longtime favorite radio talk show host. When the conversation turned to solving the budget crises of both California and the nation, Gene suggested a number of possible remedies, including sensible entitlement reform.

Nothing harsh, mind you. Just a call for all Americans to assess whether we can afford current and projected levels of public-sector spending, such as near-universal healthcare coverage and generous public employee pensions, given our aversion to higher taxes.

A woman called him up and was upset that he had used the word "entitlements." She insisted Gene was using the term pejoratively to demean those on public assistance. I couldn't believe my ears. Entitlements? My recollection was the umbrella word was invented in the 70s to replace terms that had developed a negative connotation, such as welfare, food stamps and the like.

But, just like so many other terms born of good intentions, entitlement has taken on a negative connotation through repeated use over the decades. Phrases used to describe intellect or mental health are particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon, which I will call connotative depreciation (apparently I invented the term).

If I recall correctly, my friend Paul Henrici told me his current home in Lakeville used to be a facility known as the Connecticut Home For Idiots. That was back when there were three well-known clinical categories of intellectual deficiency: idiot, imbecile and moron — with the latter being the least intelligent. They were honest terms for their time, but over the years they acquired a stigma — perhaps because of their use as epithets — so the term mentally retarded was introduced.

That phrase has been largely replaced by developmentally disabled. There are some who now find that phrase offensive so — believe it or not — I have actually heard the term differently abled bandied about. And word on the street in the educational community is that a search is on to replace special education. Amazingly, that term — already euphemistic in its origin — has also suffered from connotative depreciation.

And look at what's happened to terms of race and ethnicity. The N-word has always been highly-charged and offensive but colored people was fine pretty much until the 1960s, when it was replaced by black and — later — African American. In the 80s,  people of color emerged to describe non-whites. If colored people was deemed offensive, then why would non-whites come up with the almost-identical people of color?

Current trends suggests that any term used to describe a disadvantaged group will suffer from connotative depreciation and have to be replaced by a fresher term. I project that at this rate we will effectively run out of such terms by 2030. A hot new job field will open up: connotative depreciation analyst. Prepare your kids for a career now.