Use of the word "Harvest"

[Non-Typical Solutions]

Interesting topic.

As a school teacher I have found that I have to be careful of what I say or my job performance comes under the microscope.

I might call a kid a jackass and that would not be acceptable, I should have just told him how much I loved him and how I sure would appreciate it if he would not be so hyper in my class it might help if he didn't drink that monster drink right before class and I realize that he does have attention deficit disorder.

 

Yep, I can relate to calling things what they are and what they ain't but to survive in my world and keep my job, jackass is not a work I can use.

 

I have never heard anything that Carlin has ever put out that I could listen to with my mom in the same room but Bill I gotta tell ya, I am gonna have to copy and paste that article for reading purposes, that is a great one.

[youngbuck]

I've heard or seen the bit Carlin did on euphemisms. Carlin is a pretty sharp guy, I like most of his stuff.

The first time I heard the term "harvest" was at an AZGFD hunter education class when I was 9, 16 years ago. My dad and I joked about it, about how cheesy it sounded. The reason people feel the need to use "harvest", or euphemisms in general, is because someone before them started to use a "better term". If everybody used "kill" from day one there would be no problem with it today. There wouldn't be a bad connotation associated with the work kill. The forums I visit about trapping is full of euphemisms. I understand why. The general public is against trapping or using fur. It's funny because half of them probably drive cars with leather seats. I suppose furs or socially acceptable as long as you shave the hair off. I see the side to cater to the non-hunters. The majority of the public is a non-hunter, and they don't have a good or bad feeling about hunting. It is important to get the non-hunters to side with us, it is a large group of people. To this day I refrain from using the term harvest. In my hunting group of friends, I also use more descriptive terms over "kill".

 

I feel Mr. Quimby's pain about the decline of grammar. When I was in school grammar was either correct or wrong. These days it seems there is a gray area. Some chopped up words have found their way into "acceptable use of grammar". Congrats, alot, unnecessary use of commas and apostrophes, specifically with a non for plural, are all over looked today. The text lingo started with the explosion of the internet. Then it went crazy with cell phones. I text in short hand often. I also know when and where to actually use the things I have learned in school. I had a writing teacher who talked to me about purposely misspelling words to get a "voice". I do this frequently, depending on my audience and where I'm writing. The best example of this is Lark. Believe it or not, he knows how to spell. He spells the way he does to have a "voice". This is the reason his posts are so much fun to read. Most of the grammatical errors, these days, are not to attain a "voice", but due to ignorance. I'm sure educators have a difficult time with this. In my high school, we all laughed it off. It was a joke, someone forgot they weren't texting. It seems today people don't know the difference between text language and English. Another problem is the internet itself. What is it? for me, it is just like real life. There are places it is acceptable to use shorthand language. However, there are some places on the internet where there is a need for the proper use of grammar. Another reason for the decline is the invention of spell check. I used to know how to spell, now I can get close and spell check fixes it. The further computers come a long, the fewer buttons I have to push to have it fix my spelling. Pretty soon I don't click any buttons. I expect the computer to read my mind and fix every error I've typed out.

 

When it comes down to it, I don't run around on forums being the grammar police. I also don't get bent out of shape when someone corrects me. I see written and spoken language as a way to transfer ideas, thoughts, and concepts. If it is on the internet and I can understand it, I'll reply if I can help. If I can't tell whether or not you're writing notes from your differential equations class, I leave it alone. In my opinion, the rules of grammar are in place to have a standard, so everyone can understand them. If everybody goes around inventing their own language, eventually no one will be able to interpret it.

[peckl1]

I use the word kill and yes it gets people's attention. I agree with Bill and George too much sugar coating goes on. When people want to talk about what I do I am more than willing to talk. If they take affense to my killing "Bambi" I ask what did they have for dinner last night. Unless it is a vegan then someone had to kill their dinner. And if it is a vegan I ask if that vegetable felt it when it was pulled out of the ground. I don't like talking to vegans much anyway. They are usally pretty sickly and I do not want to be around them. Might catch something. See there I used "catch" the right way.

 

Lee

[couesobsession]

Quite frankly I just started the thread as a conversation piece, to see how many people would chime in!!!! Many valid points have been raised. Despite the fact it seems I'm in the minority, I think I agree that too much sugar-coating is being used in today's society, and that Harvest is just the politically correct form of what people are doing (yes it is being shoved down our throats). For example, do you think that in the 1800's that a young man would bring home a buck and shout to his dad "Pa, I HARVESTED a deer!!!" Nope. He'd gleefully tell all who would listen that he "killed" a buck, an action what would benefit his family. Sure, some definitions of the wortd include the killing, or take, of animals, but that is only because those definitions were REVISED (granted, many definitions are, but not always to make something more politically correct). Maybe some just see it as a pointless topic, but many things are changing as subtly as this, sometimes not for the better. A penny for you thoughts.

[308Nut]

You have to have 'killed' to have harvested but you dont have to have harvested to have 'killed' A poacher could have made a kill for the sport of it and leave the animal lay to rot. This is one of the reasons I use the term 'harvest' much of the time. And yes, it involves a 'kill' of which I am not ashamed of. It conjours up in the mind of a broader picture than just a 'kill'. I cant say I do it to be politically correct either. It is just a descriptive term. The very nature of any language is constantly changing.

[BirdDog20]

I kid with my hunting buddies here in Texas whether they "culled" or "baited" their deer instead of "got", "harvested", or "killed". Talking to non-hunters around here, I always find myself wanting to explain open-range hunting in Southern AZ versus leased hunting over feeders that is so prevalent in Texas. That's what keeps me coming back home. Hunting here so often isn't hunting. You sit in a blind, the dinner bell goes off and you shoot the one you want / can afford.

 

They do have public land hunting in the National Forest which I'm starting to investigate further. No baiting there. Have to read the terrain ... but your average shot is cut way down due to lack of visibility. Different type of challenge setting up a tree stand in the right area by reading the sign and lay of the land.

[couesobsession]

You have to have 'killed' to have harvested but you dont have to have harvested to have 'killed' A poacher could have made a kill for the sport of it and leave the animal lay to rot. This is one of the reasons I use the term 'harvest' much of the time. And yes, it involves a 'kill' of which I am not ashamed of. It conjours up in the mind of a broader picture than just a 'kill'. I cant say I do it to be politically correct either. It is just a descriptive term. The very nature of any language is constantly changing.

 

 

Well put. I just wish that that was the reason that so many people (esp. those on TV) use the word. Some people may do it to specify they will be using the animal they killed, but many, many people out there are adopting it as a politically correct form of killing their animal.

[.270]

to me using a word like harvest means you're trying to not offend some hugger. but if you wanna be some pc nerd, go ahead, as long as you still hunt and are responsible in doing so. i do get sick of terms like whack and stack, kill and grill, or any other stupid sounding term that doesn't do anything but sound like a moron said it. but as long as they are a responsible hunting moron, i can live with it too. kill doesn't bother me and if does bother someone they are probably the kinda guy i don't wanna hunt with. but as long as "killing" something don't bother em, i can live with that too. when you harvest and ear of corn or a mater, you kill it. i spent a lotta years "harvesting" crops and i don't ever remember using the term harvest even then. we picked it or cut it. cotton, corn, barley, alfalfa, wheat, alla them things. i never remember hearing any ol' farmer say he harvested anything. so pretty much, use whatever word you want, as long as you hunt correctly. it might mean you are little wierd and goofy and probably have some real issues with a lotta things, but that's ok, as long as you hunt. pansy wierdos. Lark.

[billrquimby]

"You have to have 'killed' to have harvested but you dont have to have harvested to have 'killed' A poacher could have made a kill for the sport of it and leave the animal lay to rot. This is one of the reasons I use the term 'harvest' much of the time. And yes, it involves a 'kill' of which I am not ashamed of. It conjours up in the mind of a broader picture than just a 'kill'. I cant say I do it to be politically correct either. It is just a descriptive term. The very nature of any language is constantly changing. "

 

------

 

 

Yes, 308nut, our language is constantly evolving, but not always for the better. For example, I have a 100-year-old dictionary that defines "sport" as "hunting, fishing and games." In this case, our language has evolved to exclude or lessen the importance of the two things I cherish.

 

I had promised myself that I would walk away from this thread knowing that those on this forum who believe “harvest” is an acceptable way to describe the hunting and killing of a game animal outnumber those who agree with me nearly five to one.

 

However, I can’t help myself. I need to point out that a euphemism not only is an attempt to deceive, evade and obfuscate by substituting a less-offensive word, but its use also can be pretentious, pompous and sophomoric. I believe that using “harvest” as a hunting term is all of that.

 

It came about in this usage in the early 1960s at about the same time antihunting fanatics joined the growing environmental movement. To defend their base from increasing attacks, pro-hunting wildlife managers and national sportsmen's organizations began referring to wildlife as “crops” that could be safely “harvested” by the “management tool” we call hunting.

 

The fact that "harvest" as a hunting term can be found in modern dictionaries does not lessen the fact that the original intent was to deceive or at least soften the fact that hunters kill animals.

 

Funny thing, though. Its use has fooled no one, and especially not the people for whom the term was first coined.

 

Until a few years ago, a hunter would be laughed out of his camp if he talked about the deer he had “harvested.” If the truth were known, he still would be viewed as a bit goofy in the camps I frequent.

 

At any rate, below are a few ordinary and perfectly good words and the euphemisms that are replacing them that I borrowed from the internet. Judging by the results of the poll on this thread, there is no hope for our language. It is increasingly obvious that George Orwell, who accurately predicted the coming of doublespeak in his "1984," was a clairvoyant prophet.

 

Bill Quimby

 

 

EUPHEMISMS IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Bastard -- Illegitimate child, love child,

Bribe -- Coerce, financially reward

Cheat -- Compare answers, collaborate

Christmas tree -- Holiday tree, winter tree, tree

Desert -- Arid lands

Die -- Deceased, passed away, gone to a better place, checked out

Dump -- Landfill, sanitary landfill

Obese -- Fat, heavy set, voluptuous, full-figured

Garbage man -- Sanitation worker, sanitation engineer

Grave digger -- Cemetery operative

Janitor -- Custodian

Jungle -- Tropical forest, rain forest

Junkyard -- Recycling center

Lame -- Crippled, handicapped, disabled, physically challenged, differently abled

Lie -- Bend the truth, misspeak

Old -- Mature, senior, past his prime

Prairie -- Grasslands

Secretary -- Administrative assistant

Spastic -- Muscular hypertonicity

Strip bar -- Gentleman’s club, adult entertainment center

Stripper -- Adult dancer, exotic dancer, dancer

Swamp -- Wetlands, riparian area

Stupid -- Subnormal intelligence, mentally challenged, intellectually challenged

Toilet -- Water closet, bathroom, powder room, restroom

Trash -- Recylables

Window cleaner -- transparent-wall maintenance officer

 

EUPHEMISMS IN THE MILITARY

Assassinate -- Destroy, take out, wet work, neutralize, target of opportunity

Bombing -- Air campaign

Genocide -- Ethnic cleansing

Killing civilians -- Caught in cross-fire, collateral damage

Killing the enemy -- Pacification, neutralizing the target, employing kinetic effects

Killing our own soldiers -- Frag, friendly fire

Hiring mercenaries -- Greenbacking

Humans -- Soft targets

Land mines -- Area denial munitions

Mercenary -- Contractor

Nuclear War -- All-out strategic exchange

Overthrow a government -- Regime change

Poison gas -- Nerve agent

Retreat -- Strategic movement to the rear, adjustment of the front, retrograde maneuvers, redeploy the force

Spy -- Evesdrop, monitor

Surprise attack -- Pre-emptive strike

Torturing -- Persuading, physically persuading, tough questioning, enhanced interrogating

War -- Peace action, security action, humanitarian intervention, limited kinetic action, pacification

 

EUPHEMISMS IN BUSINESS

Fire -- Cut excesses, let go, terminate, downsize, rightsize

Oil drilling -- Organic phase drilling

Pollution -- Effluent, wastewater, byproduct, runoff

Sue -- Take legal action

Used -- Second hand, pre-owned

 

EUPHEMISMS IN POLITICS

Bailout -- Stimulus

Border-crossing criminal -- Wetback, undocumented worker, illegal immigrant, immigrant

Favoritism -- Equal opportunity

Lies -- Inoperative statements

Poisoning a convicted murderer -- lethal injection

Poor -- Underprivileged, economically challenged, economically deprived

Tear down slums -- Urban development, urban renewal

Slum -- Ghetto, economically depressed neighborhood, culturally-deprived environment, inner city

Wasteful spending -- pork, legislatively directed spending, earmark, set-aside

[Jimmer Negamanee]

I don’t use the word “harvest” to refer to an individual animal. But I may call the X number of deer killed in a particular season a harvest.

 

Words are just the clothes that our ideas wear. To me a euphemism is a gentler/nicer/wimpier (depending on your opinion) way of saying the same thing.

 

If you’re saying something different, however, even slightly different, it’s not a euphemism, it’s a different word.

 

Like red and pink. No one would say that pink is a euphemism for red. We use different words because they’re different ideas.

 

BTW (my apologies to Mr. Quimby), this post is one of the reasons I like CWT.com so much. Many different views. Many different opinions. We are all stronger for it.

[billrquimby]

"I don’t use the word “harvest” to refer to an individual animal. But I may call the X number of deer killed in a particular season a harvest."

 

 

You use the word correctly. However, not all euphemisms are gentler, nicer, wimpier. Take "friendly fire," for example. It fits none of these three categories.

 

Incidentally, your "words are just the clothes that our ideas wear" is a wonderful phrase. I've spent more than half a century working with and selling words, and I wish I'd said it.

 

Bill Quimby

[Jimmer Negamanee]

Incidentally, your "words are just the clothes that our ideas wear" is a wonderful phrase. I've spent more than half a century working with and selling words, and I wish I'd said it.

 

Mr. Quimby,

You are a man of letters and have made a living as such. You are also a gentleman of the highest order; always patient, dignified and kind. Coming from you, this is the highest of compliments. It may be against some Internet norm or protocol to acknowledge your kindness but I don’t care. Thank you.

-Jim

[gearsnagger]

Incidentally, your "words are just the clothes that our ideas wear" is a wonderful phrase. I've spent more than half a century working with and selling words, and I wish I'd said it.

 

Mr. Quimby,

You are a man of letters and have made a living as such. You are also a gentleman of the highest order; always patient, dignified and kind. Coming from you, this is the highest of compliments. It may be against some Internet norm or protocol to acknowledge your kindness but I don’t care. Thank you.

-Jim

 

We slaughter the pig's in Barter Town... Masta Blasta! LOL

[stanley]

Incidentally, your "words are just the clothes that our ideas wear" is a wonderful phrase. I've spent more than half a century working with and selling words, and I wish I'd said it.

 

Mr. Quimby,

You are a man of letters and have made a living as such. You are also a gentleman of the highest order; always patient, dignified and kind. Coming from you, this is the highest of compliments. It may be against some Internet norm or protocol to acknowledge your kindness but I don't care. Thank you.

-Jim

 

We slaughter the pig's in Barter Town... Masta Blasta! LOL

 

Break the deal, face the wheel......

[Non-Typical Solutions]

Saw this guy on the news this morning, thought it fit the topic, never really listened to him but he does a pretty good job.