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Zephir Woodwood
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:51 am
Post subject: Use of word people versus persons |
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I read some text in an infection control document today. "They are easily
dispersed in air currents and transmitted when susceptible people inhale
contaminated air."
Is the use of "people" acceptable? What is wrong with substituting
"persons"?
Thank you
[Crossposted to alt.english.usage]
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CyberCypher
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 10:06 am
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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Zephir Woodwood wrote on 29 Sep 2004:
| Quote: | I read some text in an infection control document today. "They
are easily dispersed in air currents and transmitted when
susceptible people inhale contaminated air."
Is the use of "people" acceptable?
|
Quite acceptable, and even preferred by the American Medical
Association Manual of Style.
| Quote: | What is wrong with substituting "persons"?
|
Style. Medical publishers have been publishing documents filled with
stilted language for far too long. The authors, editors, and publishers
who care about language use prefer to use as much everday English as
possible in order to make what is published as clear and as easy to
read and understand as possible.
And, just for the record, corporations are legal "persons" but *not*
legal "people".
| Quote: | [Crossposted to alt.english.usage]
|
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet. |
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Zephir Woodwood
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 10:12 am
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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"CyberCypher" <cybercypher@19-16-25-13-01-03.com> wrote in message
news:Xns95737B3D84D9Bcctxt2002@130.133.1.4...
| Quote: | Zephir Woodwood wrote on 29 Sep 2004:
I read some text in an infection control document today. "They
are easily dispersed in air currents and transmitted when
susceptible people inhale contaminated air."
Is the use of "people" acceptable?
Quite acceptable, and even preferred by the American Medical
Association Manual of Style.
What is wrong with substituting "persons"?
Style. Medical publishers have been publishing documents filled with
stilted language for far too long. The authors, editors, and publishers
who care about language use prefer to use as much everday English as
possible in order to make what is published as clear and as easy to
read and understand as possible.
And, just for the record, corporations are legal "persons" but *not*
legal "people".
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.
thank you |
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Adrian Bailey
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 1:38 pm
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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"Zephir Woodwood" <zwnospam1965@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ojq6d.7759$5O5.1190@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
| Quote: | I read some text in an infection control document today. "They are easily
dispersed in air currents and transmitted when susceptible people inhale
contaminated air."
Is the use of "people" acceptable? What is wrong with substituting
"persons"?
Thank you
|
"People are People" http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/depeche-mode/39333.html
Adrian |
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Django Cat
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 2:02 pm
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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On 29 Sep 2004 04:06:50 GMT, CyberCypher
<cybercypher@19-16-25-13-01-03.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Zephir Woodwood wrote on 29 Sep 2004:
I read some text in an infection control document today. "They
are easily dispersed in air currents and transmitted when
susceptible people inhale contaminated air."
Is the use of "people" acceptable?
Quite acceptable, and even preferred by the American Medical
Association Manual of Style.
What is wrong with substituting "persons"?
Style. Medical publishers have been publishing documents filled with
stilted language for far too long. The authors, editors, and publishers
who care about language use prefer to use as much everday English as
possible in order to make what is published as clear and as easy to
read and understand as possible.
And, just for the record, corporations are legal "persons" but *not*
legal "people".
|
That's interesting Franke - so in (US?) law an entity has to be considered
as equivalent to being an individual so that responsibility can be
assigned?
DC |
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CyberCypher
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 3:41 pm
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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Django Cat wrote on 29 Sep 2004:
[...]
| Quote: | That's interesting Franke - so in (US?) law an entity has to be
considered as equivalent to being an individual so that
responsibility can be assigned?
|
I don't know the reasoning behind making corporations legal persons.
There are a couple of lawyers here who could probably tell you. Bob
Leiblich surely would have were he still here.
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet. |
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Michael Nitabach
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 10:49 pm
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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CyberCypher <cybercypher@19-16-25-13-01-03.com> wrote in
news:Xns9573B4096F3DEcctxt2002@130.133.1.4:
| Quote: | Django Cat wrote on 29 Sep 2004:
[...]
That's interesting Franke - so in (US?) law an entity has to be
considered as equivalent to being an individual so that
responsibility can be assigned?
I don't know the reasoning behind making corporations legal persons.
|
One reason is so that courts can have jurisdiction over them.
--
Mike Nitabach |
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Don Aitken
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:13 pm
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 11:49:56 -0500, Michael Nitabach
<mnitabach@acedsl.com> wrote:
| Quote: | CyberCypher <cybercypher@19-16-25-13-01-03.com> wrote in
news:Xns9573B4096F3DEcctxt2002@130.133.1.4:
Django Cat wrote on 29 Sep 2004:
[...]
That's interesting Franke - so in (US?) law an entity has to be
considered as equivalent to being an individual so that
responsibility can be assigned?
I don't know the reasoning behind making corporations legal persons.
One reason is so that courts can have jurisdiction over them.
|
It isn't a new, or a specifically American, thing. All the common-law
countries have it. Originally it needed a special statute or a Royal
Charter; incorporation by administrative procedure came in in the 19th
century in England.
--
Don Aitken
Mail to the addresses given in the headers is no longer being
read. To mail me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com". |
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Pat Durkin
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:17 am
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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"Don Aitken" <don-aitken@freeuk.com> wrote in message
news:tlqll0l2uue6npv88sajiq938mtadjc8ga@4ax.com...
| Quote: | On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 11:49:56 -0500, Michael Nitabach
mnitabach@acedsl.com> wrote:
CyberCypher <cybercypher@19-16-25-13-01-03.com> wrote in
news:Xns9573B4096F3DEcctxt2002@130.133.1.4:
Django Cat wrote on 29 Sep 2004:
[...]
That's interesting Franke - so in (US?) law an entity has to be
considered as equivalent to being an individual so that
responsibility can be assigned?
I don't know the reasoning behind making corporations legal persons.
One reason is so that courts can have jurisdiction over them.
It isn't a new, or a specifically American, thing. All the common-law
countries have it. Originally it needed a special statute or a Royal
Charter; incorporation by administrative procedure came in in the 19th
century in England.
|
Taxability.
Liability in civil actions.
Probably a few more. Corporations are, in a sense, immortal. I expect just
keeping some controls on them is only human. |
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Raymond S. Wise
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:50 am
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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"Pat Durkin" <durkinpa@peoplepc.com> wrote in message
news:I_C6d.7111$Ki1.4512@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
| Quote: |
"Don Aitken" <don-aitken@freeuk.com> wrote in message
news:tlqll0l2uue6npv88sajiq938mtadjc8ga@4ax.com...
On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 11:49:56 -0500, Michael Nitabach
mnitabach@acedsl.com> wrote:
CyberCypher <cybercypher@19-16-25-13-01-03.com> wrote in
news:Xns9573B4096F3DEcctxt2002@130.133.1.4:
Django Cat wrote on 29 Sep 2004:
[...]
That's interesting Franke - so in (US?) law an entity has to be
considered as equivalent to being an individual so that
responsibility can be assigned?
I don't know the reasoning behind making corporations legal persons.
One reason is so that courts can have jurisdiction over them.
It isn't a new, or a specifically American, thing. All the common-law
countries have it. Originally it needed a special statute or a Royal
Charter; incorporation by administrative procedure came in in the 19th
century in England.
Taxability.
Liability in civil actions.
Probably a few more. Corporations are, in a sense, immortal. I expect
just
keeping some controls on them is only human.
|
I've seen that very aspect, potential immortality, used in an argument as
one reason to abolish legal personhood for corporations (part of the overall
argument that a corporation should not be given the legal status of a person
because it is so very different from a person).
--
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com |
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Spehro Pefhany
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:32 am
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 13:50:28 -0500, the renowned "Raymond S. Wise"
<mplsrayNOSPAM@gbronline.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
I've seen that very aspect, potential immortality, used in an argument as
one reason to abolish legal personhood for corporations (part of the overall
argument that a corporation should not be given the legal status of a person
because it is so very different from a person).
|
As you say, "potential immortality". Among other ways they can die,
Corporations can be subject to the death penalty (having their charter
revoked) for such crimes as not filing tax returns promptly.
The movie "The Corporation" sounds like an interesting exploration of
the subject.
http://www.thecorporation.com/about/
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com |
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Skitt
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 3:46 am
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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CyberCypher wrote:
| Quote: | Django Cat wrote:
That's interesting Franke - so in (US?) law an entity has to be
considered as equivalent to being an individual so that
responsibility can be assigned?
I don't know the reasoning behind making corporations legal persons.
There are a couple of lawyers here who could probably tell you. Bob
Leiblich surely would have were he still here.
|
It's hard to stomach seeing Bob's name spelled that way. Not lovely at all.
--
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/ |
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CyberCypher
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 5:41 am
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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Skitt wrote on 30 Sep 2004:
| Quote: | CyberCypher wrote:
Django Cat wrote:
That's interesting Franke - so in (US?) law an entity has to be
considered as equivalent to being an individual so that
responsibility can be assigned?
I don't know the reasoning behind making corporations legal
persons. There are a couple of lawyers here who could probably
tell you. Bob Leiblich surely would have were he still here.
It's hard to stomach seeing Bob's name spelled that way. Not
lovely at all.
|
The other way isn't lovely either. I've always had trouble with the
"ei"/"ie" combination is people's names. I guess it's because I never
learned phonics: I learned German instead. I don't know how his name is
pronounced. Is it [lai] as in "pie" or [li] as in "tea"?
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet. |
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Skitt
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:18 am
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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CyberCypher wrote:
| Quote: | Skitt wrote:
CyberCypher wrote:
I don't know the reasoning behind making corporations legal
persons. There are a couple of lawyers here who could probably
tell you. Bob Leiblich surely would have were he still here.
It's hard to stomach seeing Bob's name spelled that way. Not
lovely at all.
The other way isn't lovely either. I've always had trouble with the
"ei"/"ie" combination is people's names. I guess it's because I never
learned phonics: I learned German instead. I don't know how his name
is pronounced. Is it [lai] as in "pie" or [li] as in "tea"?
|
But German is why I wrote what I did. Leib = stomach (belly, actually),
Liebe = love.
Maybe I should have said that your spelling went belly up in a very unlovely
way.
Bob's name (as well as "Liebe") is pronounced with an ee sound. "Leib" has
sort of an "eye" sound.
--
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/ |
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CyberCypher
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:28 am
Post subject: Re: Use of word people versus persons |
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Skitt wrote on 30 Sep 2004:
| Quote: | CyberCypher wrote:
Skitt wrote:
CyberCypher wrote:
I don't know the reasoning behind making corporations legal
persons. There are a couple of lawyers here who could probably
tell you. Bob Leiblich surely would have were he still here.
It's hard to stomach seeing Bob's name spelled that way. Not
lovely at all.
The other way isn't lovely either. I've always had trouble with
the "ei"/"ie" combination is people's names. I guess it's because
I never learned phonics: I learned German instead. I don't know
how his name is pronounced. Is it [lai] as in "pie" or [li] as in
"tea"?
But German is why I wrote what I did. Leib = stomach (belly,
actually), Liebe = love.
Maybe I should have said that your spelling went belly up in a
very unlovely way.
|
It's been a long, long time since I've seriously read or written any
German. I've forgotten almost everything I knew.
One of my problems with names is names that end in "stein". Some
people in New Jersey pronounce them to rhyme with "mine" and others
pronounce them to rhyme with "mean".
| Quote: | Bob's name (as well as "Liebe") is pronounced with an ee sound.
|
Thank you for that info. Maybe now I'll get it right next time.
| Quote: | "Leib" has sort of an "eye" sound.
|
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet. |
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