ToonsEAWL: Using Emails Strategically
June 8, 2011
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From the editors: As amusing as we find the righteously indignant comments questioning our use of “homo,“ EAWs are all about being “pro-active.” So allow us to build (er, strengthen) your capacity around the definition of “homo” we are employing in this series…
Homo [ˈhəʊməʊ]
n.
(Life Sciences & Allied Applications/Animals) a genus of hominids including modern man (see Homo sapiens) and several extinct species of primitive man, including H. habilis and H. erectus
[Latin: man]
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LOVE this website – LOVE LOVE Manu’s cartoons – LOVE LOVE LOVE your pro-active comment :-)
Thank you for slapping that kind of people in the face. Finally someone has revealed their sin. Ha!
It’s funny you had to clarify where the term homo in this context comes from.
It’s kinda like the other day when I saw that EAW couple walking down the street who spotted a dog and after realizing it was female he said ‘oh, that’s a nice bitch’. Within a split second he got a massive kick in the side from his girlfriend and was ordered not to use that ‘horrible word’.
Makes you wonder…
In light of your elucidation of the use of ‘homo’ in this post and building on #62 Proper Word Choice, for future reference I would point out that the correct plural for homo headquarterus would be homines headquarteri (not relevant in this post, but certainly in previous posts, such as ToonsEAWL: Summer Attire).
Quod erat demonstrandum that field cred is important, but nothing highlights you to the higher-ups at headquarters more than a display of esoteric knowledge such as your ability to fully decline Latin nouns or quote 12th century Abbasid poetry.
But isn’t Homo Headquarterus always used in a singular form in these strips? (i.e. even Summer Attire?)
‘I would like to encourage all homo headquarterus to adopt a more casual attire…’
Unless, of course, here ‘all homo headquarterus’ is a synecdoche for the institution of headquarters in general in order to further highlight the idea that it’s the people that make HQ quite what it is. In that case, fair enough and I retract my previous statement (though not the showing off my Latin declensions bit).
Love the toons, by the way, keep up the good work.
Oh yes you’re right–i forgot about that sentence…it definitely should have been ‘homines headquarteri’ (but that may have stirred a few puzzled comments from readers about the derogatory mention of the citizens of Qatar).
Thanks for your comment(s)!
manu