I followed the link here from chopchica (just so, y'know, you don't think I'm coming after you in search of an argument).
First of all, as I said in my response to your comment in my post (which, wow, that's a tennis game of a clause right there), I don't know that I actually disagree with anything you said. I'm not saying Yuletide doesn't mean Christmas to most people; the original definition thing was more of a side note, and again, that's not a battle I'm willing to fight to the end in order to defend. I just like learning about words' original meanings.
I am going to be very explicit about this: I'm not just talking about this ficathon. I'm not asking for the name "Yuletide" to be changed. I think that would be a huge headache, to begin with, and at this point I even have positive associations with the name, because of my happy involvement with the challenge. But I am saying that "Yuletide"--whether in reference to this challenge or in general--is not nondenominational. It is not religiously neutral. It is not broadly inclusive.
I agree with this entirely, and I didn't intend to write anything in my post to imply otherwise. (Or, well, on re-reading, I kind of did. Again, though, not going to argue the etymology.)
Having said that, full disclosure time: I'm panthea on JF. And in all honesty, I'm not seeing what's anti-Semitic about that particular comment of mine. Perhaps it was worded badly, but I was in no way implying that Jewish holidays are not worth knowing about, and I'm not sure where you gathered that; I just don't think it's fair to expect people to know about them, and to therefore read potential malice into any scheduling conflicts. I lived with a fairly (though not strictly) observant Jewish woman for three and a half years, and as I said, I'd never heard of Sukkot before yesterday. And I wouldn't expect any random person to know the date of Eid al-Fitr either.
And I'm not sure if the "making fun" part was referring to me as well, but I wasn't making fun of Rosh Hashanah either. I just like the way it sounds.
(Incidentally, I don't know if this matters at all-- and it probably doesn't-- but it's worth mentioning that mindset is herself Jewish.)
no subject
First of all, as I said in my response to your comment in my post (which, wow, that's a tennis game of a clause right there), I don't know that I actually disagree with anything you said. I'm not saying Yuletide doesn't mean Christmas to most people; the original definition thing was more of a side note, and again, that's not a battle I'm willing to fight to the end in order to defend. I just like learning about words' original meanings.
I am going to be very explicit about this: I'm not just talking about this ficathon. I'm not asking for the name "Yuletide" to be changed. I think that would be a huge headache, to begin with, and at this point I even have positive associations with the name, because of my happy involvement with the challenge. But I am saying that "Yuletide"--whether in reference to this challenge or in general--is not nondenominational. It is not religiously neutral. It is not broadly inclusive.
I agree with this entirely, and I didn't intend to write anything in my post to imply otherwise. (Or, well, on re-reading, I kind of did. Again, though, not going to argue the etymology.)
Having said that, full disclosure time: I'm panthea on JF. And in all honesty, I'm not seeing what's anti-Semitic about that particular comment of mine. Perhaps it was worded badly, but I was in no way implying that Jewish holidays are not worth knowing about, and I'm not sure where you gathered that; I just don't think it's fair to expect people to know about them, and to therefore read potential malice into any scheduling conflicts. I lived with a fairly (though not strictly) observant Jewish woman for three and a half years, and as I said, I'd never heard of Sukkot before yesterday. And I wouldn't expect any random person to know the date of Eid al-Fitr either.
And I'm not sure if the "making fun" part was referring to me as well, but I wasn't making fun of Rosh Hashanah either. I just like the way it sounds.
(Incidentally, I don't know if this matters at all-- and it probably doesn't-- but it's worth mentioning that mindset is herself Jewish.)