March 22, 2007

McDonald's lobbies the O.E.D. to redefine 'McJob'.
posted by Capt. Renault 17 years ago
  • Ohhh, poor beleaguered McDonald's! Need a McCheeseburger to go with that whine?
  • It's stupid that this 'word' was in any dictionary, let alone the OED, in the first place. I've never heard the term used. Is it regional?
  • I've used it. See also, "McMansion".
  • I've heard it used a bit, and to mean exactly what the OED says it means. I don't see that McDonalds has a legal leg to stand on.
  • Ha. Yeah, that word gets quite a bit of usage. Considering the number of dusty, obscure, unused words in the average dictionary, McJob deserves a spot. It is an accurate and succinct way of describing that sort of job. Filled a gap in the English language quite nicely.
  • As an ignoramus of Scottish descent, I am offended.
  • Too late. The McUsage is already firmly implanted in the vernacular. "McMansion", for example, is such a perfect term, lean and apt and pithy. No amount of creative litigation will extricate it now.
  • And yet, I still remain mildly tweaked out about it. Scuttish blute roons haight, lass!
  • HA! Whatta buncha McMorons!
  • We use it in the education biz. It's not as widespread as "google," but it'll get there.
  • 'McJobs' does seem to have replaced the Canadian term 'Joe job' here in Toronto for a no-skills-required job.
  • It's stupid that this 'word' was in any dictionary, let alone the OED, in the first place. The OED's purpose is to study the language and catalogue it as it is, not as they think it should be. It's a descriptive enterprise, not a normative one where they vote on what words are good enough and what ones aren't. If they find sufficiently widespread use of a word, they put it in, and this is frankly how it should be. Language is not defined by dusty grammar books and dictionaries (most of the world's languages don't have them), but by use. They have also added "d'oh" and "schwing" to the supplements, and while I cringe a little inside at that, I admire that they're sticking to their principles, even with the smellier words. The OED is nothing if it cannot make an honest appraisal of the language as it stands.
  • Understood, mct, but outside of this thread I had never heard the word used. Never heard McMansion, either.
  • They may be more popular south of the border because McD's is (I think) quite a bit more deeply ingrained in US culture. "McMansions" specifically has been in heavy use of late because these subdivisions have been springing up all over America like crazy. Down here in my neck of the woods, it seems that's the only kind of development going on. Huge swaths of woodland are being razed to throw up cookie-cutter developments with 4000+ square foot identical homes with privacy fences out back.
  • "Mc" is just being used as a pre-fix now to mean cheap and intended for mass consumption. For example, my wife gives McBlowjobs.
  • McDouchebags.
  • McDictionary - (n) a dictionary with false definitions that serve to create an untrue, positive image for big businesses.
  • Damn you, bernockle, now I can't get the "special sauce" jokes to stop running through my head!
  • McFilter.
  • Dunkin' McDonut of the clan McDonut.
  • /is glad that Fes is back on the McFilter
  • I had never heard the term "McJobs", either. I had heard "McMansions".
  • I don't have a copy of it on the shelf at the moment, but I'm pretty my first exposure to the term was in the novel Generation X by Douglas Coupland (1990 or so).
  • I do have a copy of it on my shelf.
    MCJOB: A low-pay, low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-future job in the service sector. Frequently considered a satisfying career choice by people who have never held one.
    —Douglas Coupland, Generation X, 1991, p. 5 (sidebar). I think I heard McJob well before I'd heard Joe job, though, despite living in Toronto. McMansions is a first for me, too, but I knew what it meant right away.
  • I can't wait till the McPolice come after you McMorons.
  • I think that "joe job" and "mcjob" have subtly different meanings. You could have a joe-job with a mom & pop company or store, for instance, but I don't think you could have a "McJob" unless you worked for a chain or big company. To be honest, I have never used "McJob", but I do say "joe job". But McDonald's is just whining because as the market leader, they are also the cultural touchstone. It keeps them as the most visible fast food franchise, and that may help more in the long run than it hurts. (Similarly, I heard that Borat has helped awareness of Kazakhstan more than the character has hurt its image. But the McJob has more truth behind it than Borat ever did.)
  • W/r/t McDonald's, my first thought upon reading this was, "Those douchebags." Yeah, I'm a grownup. =/ This lobbying just makes them look bad; the only thing they could have done that wouldn't have worsened the situation for them in terms of perception is to treat the whole thing like it's infra dig. Their protests are an invitation for everyone else to snort and say, "Who do they think they're fooling?"