HIDEOUS NEW WORDS
ONE REJECTED BY BRITISH JUDGE. Lord Justice Goddard deserves the gratitude of the nation for refusing to accept the word “detainee” and preferring to use “prisoner.” (That, by the way, implies no stigma; a man in this country is innocent till he is nroved guilty, yet he is properly addressed and alluded to as "prisoner” while he is still in custody). But the dismissal of “detainee” may stop the rot. The monstrous increase in “ee” words needed strong action, .There have been a few in our language over a considerable period; one of the best i known is bargee; mortgagee is in frequent use, so is trustee, and big business has given a certain currency to payee; there are a few others, and refugee was not new when it took on a tragic significance during the last war, to be emphasised since. Evacuee is, one believes, a discovery of the present war, and so perhaps is trainee. But few words are safe now from having a couple of “e’s” plastered on as suffix, generally with hideous effect.— “Manchester Guardian”' Miscellany.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 February 1943, Page 4
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183HIDEOUS NEW WORDS Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 February 1943, Page 4
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