Quote:
Originally Posted by pickled_heretic
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Welcome to linguistics.
When you ask 10 people what they first think of when they hear the word "Holocaust," you will probably get at least nine responses hinting toward the Judeocide that occurred during WW2.
The members of the guild "Holocaust" don't get to claim the word for their own use. I can't make a guild called "Coon Killers" and claim that my guild is all about killing racoons, or killing country bumpkins. I am a slave to whatever the consensus of the definition of the word is.
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I understand your argument. I just don't agree with it. "The Holocaust" refers to the WW2 atrocity. "Holocaust" does not. "Coon Killers" is clearly a slur. There is no ambiguity in its meaning.
My argument is that the word itself isn't offensive, and the intent when the guild was named was clearly not bigotry.
I offer you your own words in debate -
Welcome to linguistics.
In linguistics, meaning is what is expressed by the writer or speaker, and what is conveyed to the reader or listener, provided that they talk about the same thing (law of identity). In other words if the object and the name of the object and the concepts in their head are the same.
This is clearly not the case here.