Wed Oct 24 18:49:13 2001, Linda Higgins wrote: >>>L. Hogan said to Rep. Kahn: "Are you refering to these students, young people, concerned citizens and others as a "hoard"? Really? Is that how you think of your constituents, Phyllis? That's not very nice of you."
Ahem. Per American Heritage Dictionary: "Hoard" means a secret fund or supply stored for the future; cache. "Horde" means a large group or crowd. Neither word is in the least bit derogatory.<<< Ah-ha-hem. You left something out of American Heritage's primary definition: "1. A large group or crowd; swarm: a horde of mosquitoes [italicised]." (American Heritage is my favourite, coincidentally enough.) Therefore, I maintain that calling Cam's doorknockers (and her own constituents) a "hoard" (undoubtedly she meant "horde"-- boy we learn so much here!) was still not very nice of Ms. Kahn. >From my education at the University of Minnesota in two majors that emphasised language philosophy and history, and from working under Professor Anatole Lieberman, who is working on the first complete etymological dictionary of the English language (you may have read about him in the papers-- Star Tribune, City Pages, etc.), I know that every language historian and linguist will tell you that dictionaries are always one step behind language as it is used in the mouths of the people who speak that language. A dictionary is a resource and a guide, but not a rule book (unless you're playing Scrabble), and it can never fully explicate nuances that usually only native speakers of a language can "feel"/intuit (when not removed from its context-- a disservice to understanding of which you are guilty in your afore-stated explanation). Also, yesterday Andy P. stated that he wanted to throw his hat into the debate between Gordon and Zerby, and I just want to point out (so as not to rest responsibility on the candidates, where it is undue) that the debate on this list is not happening *between* them but rather it is *about* them. For what it's worth, I checked out Zerby's website as was suggested, and no, I don't think Zerby stating "CODEFOR needs to be reevaluated" is a very specific plan regarding police reform, as you give Zerby credit for. In fact, that statement isn't even critical of CODEFOR. The only (implied) criticism of racial profiling comes not from Zerby, but from a MNDaily editorial! This is all very ambiguous, if you ask me. Finally, let's be fair: Cam says a whole lot more about the affordable housing crisis than "We have one", as is suggested by Andy P.'s post. Under "Issues", click "Affordable Housing" rather than "Issue Briefs" and you will find a good article that lists some ideas Cam has for solving the housing crisis. Here is the direct link: <http://www.camgordon.org/issues/issue3.htm> I would encourage people to get out and hear the candidates themselves. A voter should use a website in much the same way a drunkard uses a lamppost: for support, not to shed light on anything ;o) We are not voting on who has the most skilled webmaster, after all! My tuppence, L. Hogan Marcy-Holmes _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
