Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Surrogates Are Getting On My Last Nerve

When did we stop calling people supporters or campaigners and start calling them surrogates? This recent language virus is totally bugging me. Stop it! Stop it now!

Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.

(Image: National Institute of Health, via Getty Images)

8 comments:

jodnus said...

I am very glad you brought this up. I have been hearing "surrogates" as well a lot and sort of arched an eyebrow every time. At first I blamed it on myself; possibly I was just that inexperienced in political thinking and discourse. But then again I thought I am just old enough to notice something new, annoying, and out of place.

Unknown said...

Regarding that photo, I remember it from some study done quite a while ago. They raised those young primates with those 'surrogate mothers', which was all they knew. Some surrogates were cushy, as the one pictured. Some were wire only with the funny looking head. They then exposed those little ones to a terrifying apparition that caused them, of course, to run to their surrogate mother for comfort and safety. The crux of the experiment was that those juveniles who were raised with a barren wire only surrogate would choose the mother they knew even if offered the cushy mother surrogate. Anyhow,I remember thinking how sad that was. The terror and abject fear you can see in their eyes. We, as primates, share that primal emotion. But to subject those poor 'child monkeys' to such extremes of terror was wrong, even in the name of 'science'. But it did confirm that there is no place like home.

The Cat's Meow said...

Does this mean that John Sununu is having Mitt Romney's baby?

Peteykins said...

Vincent, yes, I'm familiar with the study; that's why I searched for that image.

Cat's Meow: I like to think so!

The Cat's Meow said...

Ugh!

Anonymous said...

You would think that the English language has enough words. For the media to use improper words doesn't make sense. How would you like this sentence:

I'm going to the basketball lounge to enjoy a library.

Ridiculous.

Rafael said...

Hello Sparklepony and ponypals,
Can one of you please explain your view that this use of "surrogate" is improper?"

Certainly, words are misused all the time, but I confess that I don't see any isue here.

Peteykins said...

I don't think it's necessarily improper, just irritating.