McDonald's upset over new dictionary word (1 Viewer)

[Paul Chalk]

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/....ap/index.html

All I have to say is, way to go Merriam-Webster.

 

[Grant B]

Hmmmm do I smell a Egg McMuffin?
Ooops, that's a lawsuit I smell. How could I confuse the two???

Before the lawsuit....
McJob (mek jäb') n. a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement

After the lawsuit....
McJob (mek jäb') n. a good paying job that requires little English skills (would you like to supersize that?) and provides opportunity for advancement to Lord of the Grease.

 

[Scott L]

I feel sorry when I see the people sweating over making our food in the back of the McDonalds. They get a sh*tty view and get paid jack squat. I wish they'd get machines to replace them already (preferrably a T-X).

 

[Grant B]

Some need those jobs to survive, I wouldn't wish for them to go away. So many decent jobs have disappeared, people need something.
I treat them as equals with respect instead of feeling sorry for them; But if the screw up my order........

 

[Carl Johnson]

I don't care what Merriam-Webster says Mcjob is not a word. It's not even slang that I've ever heard of. I wonder what inspired them to disrespect McDonalds employees like that? Maybe M-W couldn't come up with any impressive new words this year so they threw that one into the mix to justify releasing a revised version.

 

[Edwin-S]

Lets see 1000 people out of the 400000 employed by McDonalds have succeeded in getting their own franchises.

1000/400000 * 100 = 0.25%

Sure is nice to see that McDonalds has been so successful helping the counter staff realize the American Dream. Keep up the good work.

 

[John_Berger]

As someone who used to work for McD's during college, I just want to put some perspective on this. I'm sure that I am in the minority, but as far as I'm concerned that definition is not representative of every McD's employee.

I used to work on the evening shift for over two years while I was in 1st and 2nd year, and they were some of the best times. I really did meet a lot of good people there, some of whom I still keep in touch with almost 15 years later. Every night that we closed the entire shift went to a local diner to just BS the morning away and for some early morning breakfast or go out to some places that were still open. Granted that bowling alleys aren't exactly the equivalent of a stork club, but we had a blast nonetheless regardless of where we went.

Yes, it was low wage. But it made more than any other job since closers got a bit more and it was better than living off of the parents. Did I expect to make it a career? Hell, no. Anyone who does has no real aspirations for themselves as far as I'm concerned. But if you can get into a good store with a good manager, it's a good place for teens and college students to work.

Almost all of the adults with whom I worked, particularly on the rare morning shifts, were there for no reason than to make some extra money instead of sit around the house. And again these were good people who still recognize me and ask me how I'm doing when I go back on occasion - some 15 years later.

So, don't feel sorry for the people who work there. Not all of them deserve (or want) any pity.

Personally, I don't blame McDonald's one bit for being upset with M-W. I have never heard that term before and agree that it was made up most likely to just get attention.

 

[Carl Miller]

I used to work on the evening shift for over two years while I was in 1st and 2nd year, and they were some of the best times. I really did meet a lot of good people there, some of whom I still keep in touch with almost 15 years later.

I worked at McDonalds all through high school and met many good, hardworking decent people. One went on to manage, and later own his own McDonalds. Another, one of my best friends, passed on college and instead managed a McDonalds for 6 years. He now owns his own consulting business which services lagging fast food restaurants, and restores them to peak efficiency and earnings. He's a millionaire, and credits his McDonalds career for all of it.

MW should be ashamed for doing this. All work is good work, and MW should stick to puffing up its dictionary with useful words instead of degrading people and the work they do.

 

[Scott L]

Well good to hear from people behind the counter! I always assumed by all the long faces I saw, McyD's workers hated their job.

 

[Edwin-S]

They didn't invent the term. It has been in usage for some time now. The term McJob has generally been used to denote boring work of low stature, low pay, low benefits, and low opportunity. Their definition of the term is accurate.

The term is not limited to the fast food industry. It has been used to define any work of a low paid, tedious nature.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

They didn't invent the term. It has been in usage for some time now. The term McJob has generally been used to denote boring work of low stature, low pay, low benefits, and low opportunity. Their definition of the term is accurate.

yeah we know, but why do we really need a one-word term to describe low paying/low opportunity jobs? how difficult is it to say what it really is? half the time, you will have to explain what a mcjob really is, you will end up using up more time explaining than you originally planned on saving by having it as a one-word term. this is all a silly idea, with a good way to get yourself in trouble in court by a sue-happy company.

CJ

 

[John_Bonner]

Lets see 1000 people out of the 400000 employed by McDonalds have succeeded in getting their own franchises.

1000/400000 * 100 = 0.25%

Sure is nice to see that McDonalds has been so successful helping the counter staff realize the American Dream. Keep up the good work.

Actually that 0.25% is much lower.
400,000 is their current headcount, but the 1,000 number
is from all employees over the years.

If you divide 1,000 by the millions of people who have worked at McD's over the years that percent goes down.

On the other hand, I doubt that many other large scale employers can say that 1,000 of their hires have gone on to own their own franchise.

 

[TedE]

Take it from somebody who holds an advanced degree in theoretical linguistics: M-W has done nothing wrong here. In fact they are simply doing what lexicographers do, that is take words or terms that have entered common usage and codify them without any political or sociological implications. In fact, Amrican Heritage Dictionary has the same entry (although many linguists may agree that American Heritage is not the best dictionary out there, by a long shot; they take more liberties and are quicker to create entries. Normally, lexicographers tends not to take "chances" with new entires).

i agree. this 'word' is barely ever used. they didnt invent the term, but it definitely not used enough to warrant entry into their latest edition.

Have you ever seen the words that are in your average dictionary? I don't see diatomaceous used all that often either, but any dictionary worth its salt will have an entry for it

I've actually heard McJob quite a bit, and it certainly has been used often in newspaper and magazine articles (a clear sign that it has entered common usage). Google it and take a look at the results

[language geek]
In fact, it's pretty interesting that the prefix Mc has become productive, meaning that it is capable of carrying its own semantic "weight" in the construction of words. Witness McMansion or McMovie, both of which I've heard on numerous occasions. Although in these cases (especially McMansion), the sense of Mc denotes something generic, and not necessarily inferior.
[/language geek]

Bottom line: you may not like that people use the term, and you may even be offended by it, but dictionaries contain far more offensive entries. Linguists don't exist to be the language police (at least GOOD ones don't try to), they're just here to describe how language is used in everyday life.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Is "conversate" a word? I've heard people use it, but I'm dubious that it's a "bonafide" word yet.

 

[Grant B]

That reminds me, I was going to go out and buy some Diatomaceous (die-uh-toe-may-shus) Earth,which isn't dirt or earth, not even colored like it. It consists of the broken up shells of tiny critters, called diatomes, that lived long ago and died in groups so massive that they can, today, be mined and bull-dozed.
Thanks TedE!

 

[Matt Gordon]

M-W has done nothing wrong here.

Yeah, complaining to the dictionary people about that kind of thing is like complaining to Rand-McNally that Austrailia is so far away from the US.

 

[TedE]

Is "conversate" a word? I heard people use it, but I'm dubious that it's a "bonafide" word yet.

Ah, if I only had the absolute power to make such judgments ...

Yeah, as much as I annoy friends talking about how fluid and dynamic language is, and how people that rail on and on about folks speaking "improperly" just don't grasp that natural languages are inherently dynamic and change from generation to generation, some things still annoy me.

"Conversate" is one of them, but only because we have a perfectly good word already in use: "converse". In fact, conversate is just a truncation of conversation which itself is a derivation of converse ("conversate" is what is called a back-formation).

I also hate marketing jargon like "productize". Tech jargon and medical jargon doesn't really bother me (probably cuz I use it myself from time to time). I think it's that techies use jargon as kind of a social cue, whereas when I hear marketing types spout off about something it's that they are trying to sound smart or informed when they typically are not. No offense intended to marketing types in the audience! It always reminds me of that Simpsons episode where they're coming up with the Poochie character.

I digress, and this is starting to drift from the original topic, but as you can tell I like talkin' language

 

[TedE]

That reminds me, I was going to go out and buy some Diatomaceous (die-uh-toe-may-shus) Earth

Heh. I just pulled that out as an example because I was looking at my fantasy football team which is called Diatomaceous Earth. My team sucks, but is good enough to annoy some of the heavyweights in my league now and again. I'm hoping to wear them down by the end of the season. I keep having to explain the name, but I guess I asked for it ...

 

[Eric_L]

Well good to hear from people behind the counter! I always assumed by all the long faces I saw, McyD's workers hated their job.

I think it should be made clear that a Micky D job is not a career. Many folks have entered the labor market there or at other fast food and gon on to much more rewarding enterprises. At these entry level jobs people learn teamwork, responsibility, pride in work and other valuable skills.

Fast food should not be disdained as a job, but recognized for what it is - entry level employment for young people, and remedial employment for those who need to learn (or re-learn) the basics.

I am a graduate of fast food and now have a respectable income and career in finance. I am always proud of where I got my start.

 

[Ted Lee]

well, the word "mcjobs" certainly isn't ubiquitous...at least not yet.

i can see where mickey-d's is coming from though. i guess i would be kinda upset if the term "he pulled a ted" became popular slang.

i've always tried to treat everyone, regardless of vocation, as an equal. those people at mcdonalds are trying to earn a living...just like everyone else. why should they get stuck with a clearly negative connotation.