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conuly
Even though it reads like it is.
It literally has to be read to be believed, and maybe not even then. I'm going to go ahead and bold the actual quotes that made me simultaneously laugh and weep.
‘Haboobs’ Stir Critics in Arizona
By MARC LACEY
PHOENIX — The massive dust storms that swept through central Arizona this month have stirred up not just clouds of sand but a debate over what to call them.
The blinding waves of brown particles, the most recent of which hit Phoenix on Monday, are caused by thunderstorms that emit gusts of wind, roiling the desert landscape. Use of the term “haboob,” which is what such storms have long been called in the Middle East, has rubbed some Arizona residents the wrong way.
“I am insulted that local TV news crews are now calling this kind of storm a haboob,” Don Yonts, a resident of Gilbert, Ariz., wrote to The Arizona Republic after a particularly fierce, mile-high dust storm swept through the state on July 5. “How do they think our soldiers feel coming back to Arizona and hearing some Middle Eastern term?”
Diane Robinson of Wickenburg, Ariz., agreed, saying the state’s dust storms are unique and ought to be labeled as such.
“Excuse me, Mr. Weatherman!” she said in a letter to the editor. “Who gave you the right to use the word ‘haboob’ in describing our recent dust storm? While you may think there are similarities, don’t forget that in these parts our dust is mixed with the whoop of the Indian’s dance, the progression of the cattle herd and warning of the rattlesnake as it lifts its head to strike.”
Dust storms are a regular summer phenomenon in Arizona, and the news media typically label them as nothing more than that. But the National Weather Service, in describing this month’s particularly thick storm, used the term haboob, which was widely picked up by the news media.
“Meteorologists in the Southwest have used the term for decades,” said Randy Cerveny, a climatologist at Arizona State University. “The media usually avoid it because they don’t think anyone will understand it.”
Not everyone was put out by the use of the term. David Wilson of Goodyear, Ariz., said those who wanted to avoid Arabic terms should steer clear of algebra, zero, pajamas and khaki, as well. “Let’s not become so ‘xenophobic’ that we forget to remember that we are citizens of the world, nor fail to recognize the contributions of all cultures to the richness of our language,” he wrote.
Although use of the term often brings smirks, Mr. Cerveny said the walls of dust could have serious consequences, toppling power lines and causing huge traffic accidents. Although ultradry conditions in the desert are considered one cause for the intensity of this year’s storms, Mr. Cerveny pointed to another possible factor: the housing bust that left developments half-finished and unmaintained, creating more desert dust to be stirred up.
I'm not sure which quote is more offensive and, frankly, stupid. Let's have a poll!
I'm guessing that these people not only never drink... alcohol, they also don't use the common terms for geographical structures such as mesas.
If some of these folks succeed in getting the cash to build a wall, can we build it around THEM personally and claim it's keeping the rest of the world out rather than keeping them in?
It literally has to be read to be believed, and maybe not even then. I'm going to go ahead and bold the actual quotes that made me simultaneously laugh and weep.
‘Haboobs’ Stir Critics in Arizona
By MARC LACEY
PHOENIX — The massive dust storms that swept through central Arizona this month have stirred up not just clouds of sand but a debate over what to call them.
The blinding waves of brown particles, the most recent of which hit Phoenix on Monday, are caused by thunderstorms that emit gusts of wind, roiling the desert landscape. Use of the term “haboob,” which is what such storms have long been called in the Middle East, has rubbed some Arizona residents the wrong way.
“I am insulted that local TV news crews are now calling this kind of storm a haboob,” Don Yonts, a resident of Gilbert, Ariz., wrote to The Arizona Republic after a particularly fierce, mile-high dust storm swept through the state on July 5. “How do they think our soldiers feel coming back to Arizona and hearing some Middle Eastern term?”
Diane Robinson of Wickenburg, Ariz., agreed, saying the state’s dust storms are unique and ought to be labeled as such.
“Excuse me, Mr. Weatherman!” she said in a letter to the editor. “Who gave you the right to use the word ‘haboob’ in describing our recent dust storm? While you may think there are similarities, don’t forget that in these parts our dust is mixed with the whoop of the Indian’s dance, the progression of the cattle herd and warning of the rattlesnake as it lifts its head to strike.”
Dust storms are a regular summer phenomenon in Arizona, and the news media typically label them as nothing more than that. But the National Weather Service, in describing this month’s particularly thick storm, used the term haboob, which was widely picked up by the news media.
“Meteorologists in the Southwest have used the term for decades,” said Randy Cerveny, a climatologist at Arizona State University. “The media usually avoid it because they don’t think anyone will understand it.”
Not everyone was put out by the use of the term. David Wilson of Goodyear, Ariz., said those who wanted to avoid Arabic terms should steer clear of algebra, zero, pajamas and khaki, as well. “Let’s not become so ‘xenophobic’ that we forget to remember that we are citizens of the world, nor fail to recognize the contributions of all cultures to the richness of our language,” he wrote.
Although use of the term often brings smirks, Mr. Cerveny said the walls of dust could have serious consequences, toppling power lines and causing huge traffic accidents. Although ultradry conditions in the desert are considered one cause for the intensity of this year’s storms, Mr. Cerveny pointed to another possible factor: the housing bust that left developments half-finished and unmaintained, creating more desert dust to be stirred up.
I'm not sure which quote is more offensive and, frankly, stupid. Let's have a poll!
Poll #7578 Offensive quotes
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 9
Which quote is worst?
View Answers
Mr. "Our soldiers are too wussy for words! Really!"
3 (33.3%)
Ms. "Indians! Rattlesnakes! Cattle! You don't have rights to the language you speak, because I don't believe in freedom of speech!"
6 (66.7%)
I'm guessing that these people not only never drink... alcohol, they also don't use the common terms for geographical structures such as mesas.
If some of these folks succeed in getting the cash to build a wall, can we build it around THEM personally and claim it's keeping the rest of the world out rather than keeping them in?
no subject
Date: 2011-07-23 06:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-23 07:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-23 06:37 pm (UTC)“How do they think our soldiers feel coming back to Arizona and hearing some Middle Eastern term?” Who does she suppose brings back foreign words to America in the first place?
no subject
Date: 2011-07-23 07:03 pm (UTC)Terrorists.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-23 10:36 pm (UTC)Especially in places like Arizona, sheesh! Wouldn't surprise me if some of the fundamentalist Christian cults believe that the evil Muslim terrorists are invoking demonic djinni to cause the big dust storms. That's illogical too, because if one can invoke djinni, why would one have them waste their time spinning up dust storms in the middle of the mostly-empty Southwest desert, when they could just as well go knock out a bunch of air traffic control towers? but it still wouldn't surprise me.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-31 03:00 am (UTC)At least it's not Arizona....
no subject
Date: 2011-07-23 10:45 pm (UTC)Hear, hear!
If haboob means a specific kind of particularly dangerous dust storm, like williwaw means a specific kind of particularly dangerous gale, then it makes perfect sense to steal the word, even if it never rows popular in common parlance. English has lots of useful but seldom-used specific words for things about which most people feel no need to be all that secific.