The OED got back to me about articulate

[nancylebov]

I recently posted a poll about "articulate", a much more problematic word than is obvious. A lot of people think it's obviously a compliment, and a lot think it's obviously an insult. I think "obviously" is much more about internal experience than we're encouraged to think. If there are any Lojbanists on this bus, does "obviously" have some handy "obvious to whom?" markers? Does cognitive behavior therapy encourage asking "obvious to whom?"?

I sent an email to the OED, and here's what I got back:

The OED entry was written for the first edition and originally published
in 1885; it has not been touched since and is badly in need of revision.
Our other dictionaries define the standard modern sense in neutral
terms: 'Of a person: able to express himself or herself fluently and
clearly' (Shorter OED, sixth edition, 2007). In British use the
adjective is usually perceived as mildly complimentary, but a comment
such as 'Articulate, isn't she?' would be understood as meaning 'this
woman is talking too much'.

The poll's been added to their revision list. I don't know how long it takes them to work through that list, but meanwhile, are there any other words that might be worth exploring?

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

How brilliant that usage is, from a political standpoint!

From your poll, it appears that Southerners have heard that word used as a racist term, while Northerners haven't. I call Obama articulate, and mean it as a simple complement on his skills as an orator.

So -- we've got here a "dog whistle". Something that people who ARE racist can listen to, and have it reinforce their racist views. People who AREN'T racist and live in places where they have heard the usage are probably already a lost cause for McCain politically, statistically speaking. But the people who DO hear it, and DO hear it in its racist connotation are going to feel included, and more likely to donate money and generally be active.

And the people who live in largely liberal areas have never even HEARD of the usage, so it fails to stir up outrage.

It's brilliant. You get to activate your racists without activating your anti-racists.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

That's probably the politics, though note that the quote about Obama wasn't that subtle. "Clean" could have meant "not corrupt", but it probably didn't.

Also, dcseain, one of the people who is most personally offended by "articulate", is white.

My tentative theory is that "articulate" becomes an insult in places where accent is an important status marker, and that's frequently but not universally about racism.

[avram]

I'm a northerner, and I think it's a problematic term.

I think going to a dictionary is the wrong approach. First, because dictionaries trail behind live usage. (By over a century in the OED's case, as Nancy found out.) Second, because meaning doesn't really exist at the level of words. A language consists of both vocabulary and grammar -- words convey meaning by how they're arranged with other words.

And keep in mind that the racism doesn't come from the claim that "articulate" is insulting to the people it's describing. Someone who says Obama is articulate isn't directly insulting Obama -- he's insulting other blacks (on whose behalf Obama might well take offense, so there is indirect insult).

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Close, but not exactly.

I'm haunted by "words don't have meaning, people have meaning". It doesn't seem quite true, but it's not false enough to ignore. As is showing up in this discussion, the meanings of words are a matter of unstable group custom.

Also, I currently believe that "articulate" can turn into an insult among people for whom accent is an important status indicator that some people work on.

I grew up in an environment (Wilmington, Delaware suburbs, de facto segregated, middle class, 1950s-60s) where the default accent was completely unproblematic[1], so I assumed that the only possible meaning for "articulate" was "makes one's meaning clear". In places where accent is a big deal, "articulate" really can mean "makes the sounds correctly", a lower order skill.

[1] I did meet someone whose parents didn't like the Delaware 'a', but that seems to be rare.