McDonald's goes after Oxford dictionary for 'McJobs'

[Nikki Stone1]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070321/ap_on_fe_st/mcdonald_s_mcjobs


McDonald's seeks to redefine 'McJobs'

...CHICAGO - McDonald's Corp. is reviving its campaign to ditch the dictionary definition of "McJob," this time setting its sites on the vocabulary of Britons. The world's largest fast food company said Tuesday it plans to launch a campaign in the U.K. this spring to get the country's dictionary houses to change current references to the word "McJob."

The Oxford English Dictionary, considered by many wordsmiths as the gold standard for the English language, is one of those that will be targeted. It defines the noun as "an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector."

The word first cropped up two decades ago in the Washington Post, according to the dictionary. But executives at Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's say the definition is demeaning to its workers and say theyll ask dictionary editors to amend the definition.

"Dictionaries are supposed to be paragons of accuracy. And in this case, they got it completely wrong," said Walt Riker, a McDonald's spokesman. "It's a complete disservice and incredibly demeaning to a terrific work force and a company that's been a jobs and opportunity machine for 50 years."...

[izzybeans]

1. ...said the McDonald's spokesman.

:rofl:

[Sabriel]

2. ...who was unavailable for further comment, having quit after three weeks. n/t

[izzybeans]

7. Not the spokesman. That person gets paid tooo..tooooo much money.

Now the Fry Guy and the Hamburgler well they are working class icons built on a tragic foundation. They get quit every three weeks, but someone else fits the suit.

[TankLV]

3. How about McMansions?

or McPresident?

[MADem]

4. Good luck with that shit!! I'd say the dictionary had it precisely right NT

[fishwax]

5. that's pretty stupid, since dictionaries record meanings, they don't determine them

The OED collects words to reflect usage, past and present ...

[orleans]

6. mcdonalds should mcfuck off. n/t

[connecticut yankee]

8. couldn't say it better myself

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[Prophet 451]

9. Whenever a company says they "create jobs and opportunities"...

...I start looking for the thumbscrews.

[azurnoir]

10. Apparently truth ouches n/t

[Beelzebud]

13. They prefer the McTruth.

[Scooter24]

11. Wasn't aware that McDonald's had the monopoly

on everything Mc-

[Beelzebud]

12. They shouldn't get their McPants in a McBunch, it's just a McWord.

[Ikonoklast]

14. McMakes them look McStupid

I sincerely doubt that there are many people choosing to flip burgers as a life-time career.

It is exactly what it is, a low-paid entry-level service industry job that has a limited upside. It is the very definition of 'McJob'.

[Willinois]

15. McNewspeak

From <http://www.thereisaway.us/>

The novel 1984 describes Newspeak as "the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year."

"The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of Ingsoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible. It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought—that is, a thought diverging from the principles of Ingsoc—should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words."

Remember that 1984 was meant to apply to any totalitarian government at any time in any place. Where are the forces of control and repression in today's society?

[Nikki Stone1]

16. Mc Donald's is the strongest force of control and repression?

Hmmm

[Willinois]

18. When the President has handed the government over to corporations

and operates it for their benefit, how do you draw a firm line between repression by corporations and the government?

[Nikki Stone1]

19. AH, Ok

.,.

[silverlib]

17. McJob was wonderful experience for my fifteen year-old

who decided she really needed to work, against my better judgment. She is in college now, determined that a McJob is not what she wants in her future. She watched the illegals working in the kitchen where the air-conditioners did not work for over a year. She watched a fellow employee get fired because she went over management's head and complained to the owners. She saw so much and she learned so much. But at what price? It's a great lesson and great wages for a fifteen year-old, but she realized that this was not a good place for an adult. She learned that it was hell for an adult. She was one of the pretty "youngsters" at the cash register.