I swear that last week I saw a paper advertising an "assistive living faciliity." Just today, getting set to lecture in a strange classroom, I saw a sign saying that if I didn't find what I want, I should call "assistive services."
Assistive? If two swallows make a summer, I think we have a new word.
And as is so often the case, the question is--why do we need it? "Assistive living" sounds like it is the person who lives who does the assisting. But this is exactly backwards: s/he is the one assisted. So "assistive" definitely puts us back behind the line of scrimmage. It is hard to imagine who would have come up with such a formulation: perhaps the same kind of person who thinks that we should use the word "better" for stuff that is less than "good" (as in "merely better"?).
"Assistive services" is not open to the same objection. It is, I suppose, the assister who does the serving. But wouldn't be enough to say call for "assistance"? Or "service"?
Assistive. Hmph. What's the world coming to, anyway?
Assistive? If two swallows make a summer, I think we have a new word.
And as is so often the case, the question is--why do we need it? "Assistive living" sounds like it is the person who lives who does the assisting. But this is exactly backwards: s/he is the one assisted. So "assistive" definitely puts us back behind the line of scrimmage. It is hard to imagine who would have come up with such a formulation: perhaps the same kind of person who thinks that we should use the word "better" for stuff that is less than "good" (as in "merely better"?).
"Assistive services" is not open to the same objection. It is, I suppose, the assister who does the serving. But wouldn't be enough to say call for "assistance"? Or "service"?
Assistive. Hmph. What's the world coming to, anyway?
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