Ha! Yes, I understand why you needed to get that off your chest. I'm certain that the word orphan was used exactly in the sense and for the reason you say.
I don't know if she knew that when she talked about how the word made her feel. The meanings of words, and the intentions people have when they use them matter very much to me, and I especially can't stand rejections of words based on anti-intellectualism - but when the topic is how the reader feels when reading a word, and perceiving that word as applying to herself, then an explanation of the intention of the writer is off topic, as you say :-)
I don't think the verb "to orphan" is offensive or ill-chosen, but in the emotionally charged atmosphere, with name calling and guilting going on, it is understandable that emotional connotations to words can strike anyone much more strongly than they usually would. This word especially conveys the feeling of the work as an extension/product of the author's self, and the severing of that connection between author and work as something traumatic.
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Re: I guess this is officially off-topic, sorry
Date: 2010-01-05 01:31 am (UTC)I don't know if she knew that when she talked about how the word made her feel. The meanings of words, and the intentions people have when they use them matter very much to me, and I especially can't stand rejections of words based on anti-intellectualism - but when the topic is how the reader feels when reading a word, and perceiving that word as applying to herself, then an explanation of the intention of the writer is off topic, as you say :-)
I don't think the verb "to orphan" is offensive or ill-chosen, but in the emotionally charged atmosphere, with name calling and guilting going on, it is understandable that emotional connotations to words can strike anyone much more strongly than they usually would. This word especially conveys the feeling of the work as an extension/product of the author's self, and the severing of that connection between author and work as something traumatic.