Thursday, January 17, 2013

Language changes with the times and money flow

I remember "wife abuse."  But after gender equality, they found  out that women also abused men, it became "spousal abuse."  But then it was revealed that living together (aka shacking up) also produced nasty outcomes so it became "domestic violence." But research showed that gays and lesbians abused their lovers, so it was called "domestic partner abuse."  Now it is "intimate partner violence" (IPV) which is different than “elder abuse.”  We have an amazingly flexible language, always ready and willing to keep up with the flow of grant money.

http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1556964#qundefined

Oh well.  Like other rates of violence, the rate has gone down dramatically in the last 20 years.

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