Roget has another word for Arab but it beggars belief

[emad]

Roget has another word for Arab but it beggars belief
By Francis Harris in Washington
(Filed: 24/08/2005)

The online edition of Roget's Thesaurus has withdrawn its entry for the word Arab after complaints that its 16 synonyms included beggar, homeless person and "slime ball".

Arab-American groups responded with outrage to the entry on thesaurus.com, which is provided by Roget.

The American Arab Forum said the entry was a disgrace. Yesterday the website seemed no longer to recognise the word Arab at all, suggesting instead crab, drab and grab as other options.

Barbara Ann Kipfer, of Roget's, said the entry may have been on the site for years. "We're simply going to take it out," she told The Washington Post. "The last thing you want with a thesaurus is to offend anyone."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/24/warab24.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/08/24/ixworld.html

[SteppingRazor]

1. To be fair...

In Victorian times, Arab DID mean beggar. If you read Sherlock Holmes stories, you'll read of street urchins refered to as "arabs."
Of course, we're not living in Victorian times...

[Roland99]

2. Ah, the good ol' colonial days.

[SteppingRazor]

Right. When men were men, women were women...

And everybody else were stinkin' savages. :evilgrin:

[H5N1]

6. That's a stretch. I am quite certain "jew" is not listed -

and when's the last time you heard that used?

[K-W]

8. Thats not a stretch, thats the truth.

And yes, it was a long time ago that it was widespread, but on the other hand we still read books from a long time ago.

Overall however the racist implications outweigh that utility, and the thesaurus should not list them as synonyms.

[TahitiNut]

3. It's a living language ... and parts die hard.

Even in our most honored classic movie, 'Casablanca,' we can hear Ilsa (played by Ingrid Bergman) refer to Sam (played by Dooley Wilson) as a "boy."

[Kagemusha]

4. Can't people understand they basically meant 'nomad'?

I mean. Really.

[H5N1]

7. I have never heard 'arab' used to mean anything but... arab

I have heard negative epithets for 'arab'
in the local red-neck taverns,
but I cannot think of any such terms in popular usage.

'Gypsy' is often used to mean nomad.
While politically correct I am surprised to see
that word is not in the new thesaurus.

[Igel]

5. Even until recently 'street arabs' in the town I grew up in

didn't mean homeless people, nor was it a term of offense--although I'm sure there are those that would like to take it as such.

They had carts that they sold fruits and veggies from.

Sigh. I suppose next we'll have to purge our dictionaries, and then bowdlerize the literature that uses those terms.

Chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken, chicken chicken chicken chicken. Chicken, chicken?

[iamjoy]

9. Maybe Innapropriate, But Not Racist

If indeed "arab" was once used as a term for homeless people was it a slang term or proper usage? If it is a slang term, then does it have a place in a thesauras or dictionary without being labeled as slang or informal use.


Wouldn't "arab" when used to refer to homeless people, etc be lower case, but if referring to an ethnic group be capitalized as "Arab"

And, meanings change over time, so shouldn't a good dictionary/thesaurus mention if a certain word usage was antiquated (if it listed it at all)

Perhaps better distinctions in technical language points could help avoid insulting people without bowdlerizing everything.