Slog - Comments on Today in Inappropriate Uses of the Word "Rape"

Comment by demo kid

demo kid — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:27:25 -0800

Sheesh. So according to this definition, Max Clelland and John Kerry were gang raped back in 2004?

Just another example of right-wing fucktards and their double-standards.

Comment by monkey

monkey — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:28:16 -0800

Maybe the RNC will help pay for her rape kit.

Comment by Erica C. Barnett's brain

Erica C. Barnett's brain — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:34:01 -0800

Yeah, rape only has one definition.

Rape
4. an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse; despoliation; violation: the rape of the countryside.

Violation only has one definition, too.

Violation
5. the crime of forcing a woman to submit to sexual intercourse against her will.

These words can only be used in these ways.

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:35:55 -0800

im getting a lot of joy out of reclusiveleftist these past few weeks.

Comment by max solomon

max solomon — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:35:58 -0800

it's the RNC & McCain campaign staffers that are feeding the rapists.

Comment by Julie in Chicago

Julie in Chicago — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:37:21 -0800

@3. Connotation vs. Denotation. Look it up.

Comment by w7ngman

w7ngman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:39:13 -0800

#6, huh?

Comment by Tiktok

Tiktok — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:42:40 -0800

Hmm--what was she wearing when she was "raped"? Oh, right. Did she get around to donating those to charity yet?

Comment by Sad Comment

Sad Comment — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:44:28 -0800

@2 - That is definitely my favorite answer of the day!

Comment by Dominic Holden

Dominic Holden — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:48:06 -0800

Inconceivable!

Comment by flamingbanjo

flamingbanjo — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:49:03 -0800

Let the insanely hyperbolic whine-fest begin. We've got a minimum of four years worth of this kind of crap to look forward to from conservatives.

Comment by Wah wah wah

Wah wah wah — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:51:39 -0800

Mmmmm - elections are over. Time for the raging, insufferable feminist to come hurtling back at us. Hear her roar. Loud, yet still ignorable.

Comment by Bellevue Ave

Bellevue Ave — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:53:24 -0800

@12 reclusive leftist never went away.

Comment by jrrrl

jrrrl — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:03:01 -0800

@3, Why do those Mormons want to stop bundles of sticks from having happy marriages?? Why do they want to arrest happy men who have stage 2 Freudian gender?!? I'm so confused, I got a dictionary but don't know how to use it!!

Comment by Stripes

Stripes — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:05:29 -0800

"Sarah Palin dared to be the crab climbing out of the bucket. The other crabs have snapped and clutched to force her back into her place... back in the bucket."

Wow, stupendous writing

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:11:58 -0800

Any fule kno that "rape" is what Palin was intending to do to the country, not the other way around.

Comment by Levislade

Levislade — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:33:15 -0800

Wow, that was some of the worst writing I've ever read. I couldn't get past the first paragraph. What a dunce.

Comment by Lara

Lara — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:34:59 -0800

I'm pretty sure using "rape" as cool slang for pretty ordinary acts, like this case of intense scrutiny, is only cool in frathouses, not so much in semi-serious journalism.

Comment by shub-negrorath

shub-negrorath — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:40:34 -0800

So the press actually performing its democratic function (for once) is now "rape," huh? Talk about soft bigotry . . .

Comment by Sean

Sean — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:42:10 -0800

Beth Shaw, meet Andrea Dworkin.

Confirms my theory that if you go far enough to the left or right, you end up in the same place.

Comment by Julie in Chicago

Julie in Chicago — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:54:21 -0800

@7 - While "rape" may have multiple denotations, the word's connotation is very clearly one of violence and crime. Particularly when you're using it in reference to a woman, and not, say, "the countryside".

Short version: rape really only has one primary meaning in common usage today. To use it in a story like that is pretty ridiculous.

Comment by James B.

James B. — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:56:10 -0800

By that definition, I got raped in English 202 last semester.

Comment by NapoleonXIV

NapoleonXIV — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:58:51 -0800

I'm sure she was really asking for it.

Comment by rococo

rococo — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:03:36 -0800

@21, regardless of how much you LIKE the usage, it's ridiculous to state that rape 'really has only one primary meaning'. As the article clearly illustrates, it has more than one meaning, even if it's an idiot using the word.

damned prescriptionists.

Comment by Julie in Chicago

Julie in Chicago — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:17:22 -0800

I stand by my opinion. There are really two points here.

(1) The primary denotation of rape is the sexual violation of a woman. Ask anybody on the street to define rape, and I would be 99% will give that definition. The others are extremely rarely used in common speech.

(2) Even if one of the less prominent denotations is being used, the connotation of rape is violence (specifically, violence against women). So, to use it in this article is not appropriate.

Comment by F

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:34:17 -0800

Maybe she was just using it in the South Park/Indiana Jones sense.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:38:38 -0800

I'd like to drench the bitch in canola oil.

Comment by kile

kile — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:40:25 -0800

@24, that same argument could be made with Nader saying "Uncle Tom", and it would miss the point just as much.

Comment by Julie in Chicago

Julie in Chicago — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:50:53 -0800

@28... I thought that's why everyone was upset about the use of "Uncle Tom"? That, there is a denotation that makes sense in terms of Nader's usage of the phrase. But, "Uncle Tom" has such a strong connotation of a black person betraying their race, that people were upset by it.

Or, are you saying people shouldn't have been upset by Nader's comment?

Comment by Slip Mahoney

Slip Mahoney — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:51:07 -0800

Not unlike former GOP vice president Dan Quayle thinking that "potato" is spelled "potatoe," a GOP headline writer and supporter of Sarah Palin probably thinks that "rap" is spelled "rape."

Comment by ellarosa

ellarosa — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:36:38 -0800

did anyone notice the other link to "sarah palin has a 120 IQ"? wtf?!

Comment by kile

kile — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:16:42 -0800

@29, I agree people should be upset. The real definition of the word "ghetto" is an area that is home to singular type of people. So if I go around calling retirement homes a ghetto, I might be using the word correctly, but I'm bound to confuse someone.

People should speak to their audience, not to their encyclopedias.