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Igel

(37,541 posts)

4. The "noun first" folk wouldn't allow it.

Reply to Lefty Thinker (Reply #3)

Sat Oct 13, 2012, 01:00 PM

Oct 2012

How dare you call any person "unauthorized."

What does it even mean to be an "unauthorized person"--a person who hasn't received authority to exist?

Yeah, it's a silly stretch of linguistic non-competence. Yet it's one often enough done with "illegal immigrant" = "illegal person".

I personally like "illegal alien", but the lexical semantics of that phrase are even less straightforward.

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Highlight:

Readers Won�t Benefit if Times Bans the Term �Illegal Immigrant� [View all] Lasher Oct 2012 OP

Statue of Liberty People. or just People. graham4anything Oct 2012 #1

The Statue of Liberty words from "The New Colossus" poem by Emma Lazarus(c) graham4anything Oct 2012 #2

How about "unauthorized immigrant"? Lefty Thinker Oct 2012 #3

The "noun first" folk wouldn't allow it. Igel Oct 2012 #4

That is mentioned in the OP. Lasher Oct 2012 #5