First, "y'all" is incorrect because "you" is already grammatically plural. "You all" can be used to resolve ambiguity or provide emphasis, as in "You all can go to the movies" (i.e., otherwise the people being addressed might have thought only some of them could go).
We are all well aware that language changes. However, there is a distinction between natural shifts in language over time, which reflect the living and changing nature of language, and politically motivated attempts at artificially changing the language, which smack of Soviet utopianism.
"Cripple" became "handicapped", then "disabled", then "differently abled". The last is a bullshit expression because it means nothing - everyone's abilities are different from those of anyone else.
Likewise, the use of "professional" in this context obliterates any meaning, both of the word itself and the context it is supposed to provide. "Waste management professional" rather than "garbage man" is not only unnecessarily long, but it really doesn't convey what the person does. "Professional" is abused and misused in quite this way, and it's done because certain people feel uncomfortable saying "garbage man" or "secretary" or "stewardess" because they feel that the terms sound derogatory.
It has nothing to do with "honorifics" and everything to do with liberal discomfort. No one is demeaning anyone by saying that they shouldn't call themselves a "professional". Some of the most successful people aren't/weren't (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Sam Walton - the list goes on and on and on).
It's just about not warping and contorting the English language.
We are all well aware that language changes. However, there is a distinction between natural shifts in language over time, which reflect the living and changing nature of language, and politically motivated attempts at artificially changing the language, which smack of Soviet utopianism.
"Cripple" became "handicapped", then "disabled", then "differently abled". The last is a bullshit expression because it means nothing - everyone's abilities are different from those of anyone else.
Likewise, the use of "professional" in this context obliterates any meaning, both of the word itself and the context it is supposed to provide. "Waste management professional" rather than "garbage man" is not only unnecessarily long, but it really doesn't convey what the person does. "Professional" is abused and misused in quite this way, and it's done because certain people feel uncomfortable saying "garbage man" or "secretary" or "stewardess" because they feel that the terms sound derogatory.
It has nothing to do with "honorifics" and everything to do with liberal discomfort. No one is demeaning anyone by saying that they shouldn't call themselves a "professional". Some of the most successful people aren't/weren't (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Sam Walton - the list goes on and on and on).
It's just about not warping and contorting the English language.
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
Profession/professional
28/01/2012 06:22:40 AM
- 710 Views
I'm not sure I agree with that.
28/01/2012 10:59:31 AM
- 362 Views
Your last paragraph is pretty much the difference between what does/doesn't bother me. *NM*
28/01/2012 11:33:48 AM
- 159 Views
I don't see much point in trying to preserve the archaic use of the word
28/01/2012 01:54:53 PM
- 412 Views
Ha! That's silly.
28/01/2012 03:32:01 PM
- 365 Views
No it is silly to think you can make a living language stagnant
28/01/2012 05:38:27 PM
- 358 Views
That's hyperbole if I ever heard it.
28/01/2012 08:29:20 PM
- 335 Views
If you were to ask 100 Americans what their profession was they would tell you what their job was
29/01/2012 02:52:22 AM
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Ask 100 Americans "When did you cease raping children?"
29/01/2012 03:05:57 AM
- 427 Views
speaking of hyperbole *NM*
29/01/2012 03:09:45 AM
- 154 Views
There was no hyperbole in my response. Seems like we found two words you can't define properly.
30/01/2012 02:11:43 PM
- 330 Views
how many people want to acknowledge they're not in a "professional job"?
30/01/2012 02:25:25 PM
- 415 Views
look I know those of you who have earned the narrow definition of the word want to preserve it
30/01/2012 03:19:30 PM
- 429 Views
No, most of us just want to preserve the plain English meanings of words.
30/01/2012 06:53:22 PM
- 317 Views
That penultimate use is the only acceptable one in a non-professional context
28/01/2012 07:18:06 PM
- 360 Views
You're absolutely correct. It's just society trying to make shit jobs sound better.
28/01/2012 03:25:48 PM
- 367 Views
Yeah, it's important to denote which occupations demand extraordinary, society-affecting judgement.
28/01/2012 05:19:30 PM
- 446 Views
at this point, though, I think teaching should be professionalized
28/01/2012 05:37:46 PM
- 417 Views
that will be hard for them to do
28/01/2012 05:44:53 PM
- 351 Views
That is a good point.
28/01/2012 08:16:38 PM
- 324 Views
Nurses have unions, and I would consider them professionals. *NM*
03/02/2012 08:52:41 PM
- 207 Views
You need a license, don't you? *NM*
28/01/2012 08:15:10 PM
- 156 Views
We have a certification process that any college grad with common sense could pass.
28/01/2012 10:36:29 PM
- 364 Views
in my mind teaching is indeed a profession. *NM*
28/01/2012 08:25:18 PM
- 225 Views
and there is the problem
29/01/2012 02:59:15 AM
- 424 Views
A teacher must have a collage degree and not only that but
29/01/2012 11:07:51 AM
- 338 Views
what in the world makes you think that professions have strict codes of conduct?
30/01/2012 02:26:55 PM
- 357 Views
Connotations change. Deal with it. *NM*
28/01/2012 10:29:20 PM
- 324 Views
I find it funny that some of our conservatives are pro-PC all of a sudden.
28/01/2012 11:14:06 PM
- 385 Views