netscape.com
The No. 1 TV buzzword of 2005--that is, words that have infiltrated our language--is "refugee," thanks to the extensive coverage of the aftermath of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in late August.
For millions, the word took on a racial undertone and was subsequently replaced by the more politically correct "evacuee" or "displaced person," according to Global Language Monitor which annually releases a list of such TV buzzwords or as they call them, "TeleWords." Last year, Donald Trump's "You're fired!" was No. 1. And in case you wondered, it's no longer hip.
The top 10 television buzzwords:
1. Refugee
Show: Ongoing coverage of the aftermath of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
Just a thought: Runners-up are evacuee, displaced persons or even Katrinees?
2. Desperation
Show: "Desperate Housewives"/The December 2004 Tsunami/Hurricane Katrina
Just a thought: "Desperate Housewives" began the television year in good fun, but as the year progressed the world witnessed an on-going war, a tsunami, the death of a beloved pope and finally unanswered death and despair on the American Gulf Coast.
3. Camp Cupcake
Show: The ongoing Martha Stewart follies
Just a thought: The minimum security West Virginia facility where Martha did her time. Runner-up: Ankle bracelet
4. Reality TV
Show: "The Real World," "The Bachelor," "Survivor Classic," "The Simple Life," etc.
Just a thought: Real-world reality bested the manufactured kind by a long shot this television season.
5. Curmudgeon
Show: "House"
Just a thought: Acerbic, caustic, antisocial and mean-spirited: And those are the socially redeeming qualities of this brilliant physician.
6. "It's what we do."
Show: "Stargate SG-1"
Just a thought: "Stargate" becomes the longest running sci-fi series in the history of the medium.
7. Flip-Flop
Show: The 2004 U.S. presidential election
Just a thought: Formerly referred to gymnastic routines, pancakes, dolphin acts and summer sandals; now transcends politics moving into pop culture.
8. Backstory
Show: "Lost"
Just a thought: "Lost" takes "the story behind the story" concept to the next level.
9. Tsunami
Show: The news
Just a thought: Before "The Tsunami" took a quarter of a million South Asian lives, most of the viewing audience had only a vague acquaintance with the word. And most couldn't spell it.
10. Mobisodes (Not another season of "The Sopranos," but one-minute TV episodes designed specifically for mobile media.)
Show: Every "hip" show worldwide.
Just a thought: Coming soon to a cell phone near you.
I can see where perhaps evacuee would have been a better choice than refugee (if you look at their definitions) but both are grammatically correct used in the ways they were, I believe. I think most of any negativity coming from the usage of "refugee" is because of the image most Americans have of what a refugee is. Most Americans have never been put in a situation as seen after Katrina. We mostly think of a refugee as one that comes here from another country, not ones within our own borders, born and raised here.
ReplyDeleteEvacuee would have been a better choice. I know a lot of people who were offended by "refugee" and its connotations.
ReplyDeleteExactly...though I would say that the offense is because of the connotations associated with the word refugee moreso than the meaning. I think that news reporters were trying to paint in our minds how grim it was in the days after Katrina...and to use refugee gave it a new understanding unlike evacuee did/would have. Perhaps it is just an american pride sort of thing that made folks feel offended. You just usually...wait ....never hear of "american refugees" because we are suppose to be the safe harbor. This time we were not ...
ReplyDeleteThere has to have been a way to tell that story though without demeaning the victims, which is what "refugee" seemed to do.
ReplyDelete