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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007State funeral? Oh, Ford!
Brave new world? As of early Sunday morning, while editing my Web site "What News?", it looked like the meaning of "state funeral" in the U.S. had changed suddenly in a way that would amuse Orwell, if not Huxley. I haven't had a chance to pore over the NY Times for possible clarification buried inside, but up until now the state funeral of a former president has been held at the National Cathedral, a couple of days after the _lying in state_ at the Capitol. You can verify this by looking up Reagan's funeral in Wikipedia (do a Google search on ["state funeral" Reagan Wikipedia]). But today the news media are chattering about the "state funeral" held yesterday at the U.S. Capitol. I thought it was a news agency howler confusing the two uses of "state" until I checked the Wikipedia article on "state funeral." Weirdly enough, the entry has been updated this very morning, and refers to a Capitol service as "the official 'state funeral'." And now the news media are falling over themselves to mention that hardly anybody of note attended Ford's "state funeral." Well sure...maybe all the notables haven't gotten the word, and are planning to be at the Cathedral on Tuesday, as is the custom... -- Charles Packer http://cpacker.org/whatnews mailboxATcpacker.org > Brave new world? As of early Sunday > morning, while editing my Web site [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > Cathedral on Tuesday, as is the > custom... "I'm going to buy my little boy a reporter doll: wind it up, and it gets it wrong." -- Stoppard, "Night and Day"  SignatureJohn W. Kennedy "The blind rulers of Logres Nourished the land on a fallacy of rational virtue." -- Charles Williams. "Taliessin through Logres: Prelude" > "I'm going to buy my little boy a reporter doll: wind it up, and it gets > it wrong." > -- Stoppard, "Night and Day" IIn this case maybe it's because there seems to be no such thing as an "offical" state funeral. The NY Times on Sunday referred to the "formal state funeral" that is to be held on Tuesday. Uncle Sam's own Web page at http://tinyurl.com/u3s43 refers to the entire period from Dec. 28 through Jan 3 as the state funeral, with the Cathedral ceremony being the "national funeral service." The situation reminds me of the words used by the press to describe the condition of injured persons: serious, critical, etc. These have no technical meaning -- you won't find them in a medical dictionary. -- Charles Packer http://cpacker.org/whatnews mailboxATcpacker.org >The situation reminds me of the words >used by the press to describe the >condition of injured persons: >serious, critical, etc. These have no >technical meaning -- you won't >find them in a medical dictionary. In the UK these terms are used by hospital spokespersons in statements to the press. They are used to summarise the state of a patient. I assume that a doctor will have decided which category to assign a patient to for the purposes of a statement to the news media. It might be a bit far to say that these terms have no technical meaning. They have a meaning in the context in which they are used. This terminology appears to be relatively standard in English worldwide. Obviously the terms have no value in "doctoring" because of their summary nature. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) Charles Packer: >> The situation reminds me of the words used by the press to describe the >> condition of injured persons: serious, critical, etc. These have no >> technical meaning -- you won't find them in a medical dictionary. Peter Duncanson: > In the UK these terms are used by hospital spokespersons in > statements to the press. ... [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > This terminology appears to be relatively standard in English > worldwide. Yep. <http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcritical.html>. SignatureMark Brader, "It is impossible. Solution follows..." Toronto, msb@vex.net -- Richard Heathfield The mailbox@cpacker.org entity posted thusly: >> "I'm going to buy my little boy a reporter doll: wind it up, and it gets >> it wrong." [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >technical meaning -- you won't >find them in a medical dictionary. The one that's always made me wonder is "guarded condition". > The mailbox@cpacker.org entity posted thusly: > >The situation reminds me of the words [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > The one that's always made me wonder is "guarded condition". It ought to be reserved for alleged drunk drivers who were injured and are still in hospital but have not yet been charged. David Loftus >The situation reminds me of the words >used by the press to describe the >condition of injured persons: >serious, critical, etc. These have no >technical meaning -- you won't >find them in a medical dictionary. Goodness. There are a lot of words you won't find in a medical dictionary but they're still used with technical meanings by medics. SignatureLinz Wet Yorks via Cambridge, York, London and Watford My accent may vary |
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