Unfair to Cadillacs
Another irate reader, this one complaining about the phrase "the hulking sport utility vehicle":
"Nicole Fuller's story about 'Click it (and) ticket' contains the above phrase.
"This is an ordinary example of what people call 'media bias'. The description is personal and it is discriminatory.
"Never mind what you think of any car. In many instances, such 'information' is gratuitously added. It amounts to "background" propoganda."
So it is not enough that we are instruments of the East Coast liberal media establishment at war with capitalism, religion, justice and ordinary decent good sense. Now we are also accused of motor vehicle prejudice.
The vehicle in question, should you not have read the story, was a Cadillac Escalade, a vehicle that cannot fairly be described as diminutive, or, for that matter, graceful.
It seems to me that hulking amounts to fair comment. Anyone who chooses to own and operate a gas-guzzling behemoth, or wear fur, or smoke tobacco should be aware that such choices and preferences, though legal, do not excite universal admiration.
Comments
'Motor vehicle prejudice'. Haha. That's great. I think I'm going to steal that (with your permission of course).
I agree with your last statement, though. It's hard for some people to wrap their mind around the concept that what they do isn't enjoyed by everyone else just because they do it. It baffles me that anyone could be offended by someone stating that an unnecessarily massive vehicle like the Escalade is just that.
Would this same person be offended if their equally massive house were described as a huge mansion? Perhaps. People get offended by the strangest things.
Posted by: JBDryden | May 31, 2007 11:45 AM
I'm not even sure it has anything to do with "fair comment." There are "compact" SUVs, "midsize" SUVs and "crossover" SUVs as well as the hulking kind, so the distinction is actually useful for those readers who don't know an Escalade from a Sportage. You could say small-medium-large, but that gets kind of boring. English is a rich language; why not spend some of its wide variety of words?
(My guess is that the touchy reader wouldn't have batted an eye at the word "tiny" applied to the subcompact Honda Fit.)
Posted by: LisaMc | May 31, 2007 3:26 PM
Lisamc,
You mentioned using "tiny" to describe a subcompact: Would "runty" be a fair word to use? How about "puny" or "shrimpy?" Mightn't some subcompact drivers take offense at those terms?
Posted by: Roy Jacobsen | June 1, 2007 9:49 AM
Actually, it sounds like the complainer's perception was pretty much on target.
Posted by: Bridey | June 1, 2007 5:25 PM
As in, "Drivers of hulking Escalades and runty Aveos pay the same price for gas -- the difference comes in the final cost for a fill-up."?
Works for me.
What's sauce for the goose...
Posted by: LisaMc | June 1, 2007 9:05 PM