Phrases I hate

[channonyarrow]

I absolutely hate the phrase "scholarship" when what it means is "charity". Seriously.

A scholarship is money awarded for a course of study. Whatever the YMCA and various religious organisations think, a scholarship is not money awarded to go on a religious retreat or attend exercise courses. I realise that we're supposed to be all PC and all up in that, and not offend people who are fucking poor by saying that they're "on charity" or "receiving welfare" or "getting subsidised", but when it comes to bastardising the language this way, I am not in favour.

Besides, refusing to talk about poverty, in the sense that "some people are living below the poverty line" (by which I mean a lot of people are living below the poverty line) does nothing to solve the problem, it's just another way of sweeping it under the rug. It's a fake ego boost ("I'm not on charity!") when what would be a lot more useful would be a living wage.

Comments

Thank You

[jacesan.livejournal.com]

I like to think that I "earned" mine because of my studies, and the minor essay needed to explain why I deserved it. Not because of my claim to some hokey religion, or ownership of an antique weapon. I prefer a good blaster at my side, thankyouverymuch.

Re: Thank You

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

I can understand that it's less painful to someone who's already looked down on by society for not having money to say that they have a "scholarship", but it makes me bananas. I never got a scholarship of any sort, not having great enough need and good enough grades, but there's a difference between the purpose of that and the purpose of enabling someone to attend a retreat, and as someone to whom academia is pretty sacred, I dislike the use of scholarship as an umbrella term. It denigrates the achievements of someone who got a scholarship on the basis of achievement.