[Ansteorra] re: Nasty-crat

[Marc Carlson]

>From: "Bill Small" <bsmall at cox-internet.com>
>Another alternative job title would be gong farmer.

Of course.

Ooh, looking in the Proptorium Parvalorum (about 1440) - Goonge fyrmar (K., 
H., S. gongefowar; P. feyar), cloacarius, latrinarius.

Apparently "Muckraker" is a later term (at least in print), although a 
muckrake is a proper tool for a gongfarmer, and muckraking is what they 
do...

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As an aside, it's interesting that this gets slapped with the label of 
'political correctness', which seems to be flung about whenever someone 
objects to a term.    The problem of course is that political correctness 
has to do with offense, and very few of these terms are "offensive".  Some 
are just wrong, while others make me gag whenever I hear them because they 
are so fantasy-based cutsey, most however are (to me) simply pointless -- 
why use a fantasy term when a period-accurate term (or better still, more 
than one) is available.

Then there is the other issue of taking a single term and basically driving 
it into the ground.  Case in point - "autocrat".  Admittedly, it's a period 
accurate term - meaning, by the way, a single utter and undisputed ruler or 
person with absolute control, so its current use with regards to SCA events 
when the coordinator of an event may NOT in fact absolutely in charge, but 
frequently answerable to people like the seneschal, local magnates, and so 
on, may not be really accurate.  In Northkeep, we frequently have 
"Co-Autocrats", which be definition is impossible.  Then we hit the other 
"-ocrat" things that have otherwise been discussed.

Now, if a person likes the traditional SCA terms, thinks they are fun or 
whatever, that's great, knock yourself out.  *I* won't be using them.  It's 
not my place to make you do as I want  (With one exception -- if you call 
what *I* am wearing "garb" when talking to me, I will correct you).  All I 
can do is to help present an example so that people who might want to be a 
bit more authentic can feel comfortable doing so.

All I ask is the same respect and not have MY efforts to aim for a more 
accurate approach in what to call things pidgeon holed as "political 
correctness".  If calling something by a name to minimize giving offense was 
a big issue, I would be using the traditional fantasy argot.

Marc/Diarmaid