Demand removal of insulting and
inaccurate definitions of 'Arab" in Roget's
Dictionary.
Paterson, August, 19, 2005: AAF is outraged by the derogatory and insulting
definitions of the word 'Arab' contained in the 2005 edition of Roget's
Dictionary.
The
dictionary includes eight offensive definitions of the word 'Arab', such as
'bum', 'derelict'
, 'ragamuffin',
and 'tramp'. Aref Assaf, President of AAF, commented that Lexico,
Inc, the publisher of Dctionary.com and which is based in Los Angeles,
California, USA, fails to provide any citations in which these pejorative
definitions were used. We call upon Lexico, Inc not
deliberately engage in such seriously false
stereotyping and misrepresentation of an entire people with tremendous
positive achievements in many fields of human endeavor. The cultural and
scientific contributions of the Arabs to Western civilization during the
Middle Ages were highly significant, especially in astronomy, mathematics,
medicine, and philosophy."
“AAF
joins other concerned entities in demanding the
immediate removal of such outrageous, insulting and derogatory definitions
and the immediate public issuance of an apology from the publisher. Because
the Dictionary. Com is an online publication; we believe a timely correction
is possible unless the editors believe in the validity of these definitions.
Maintaining these inaccuracies only perpetuate negative castigation of the
Arab people and conjure hateful and racist practices against them."
The word Arab is a
name given to the ancient and
present-day inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula and often applied to the
peoples closely allied to them in ancestry, language, religion, and culture.
Presently more than 300 million Arabs are living mainly in 22 countries.
|
The American Arab Forum, AAF, endeavors
to provide a reliable and credible gateway of information and
resources to and about the Arab American community in New Jersey and
the United States.
www.americanarabforum.org |
Here are the supposed definitions of
"Arab":
http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=arab
8 entries found for Arab.
Main Entry:
bum
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: beggar
Synonyms: bag lady, bindle, derelict, drifter, floater, gutterpup,
guttersnipe, hobo, homeless person, stiff, street arab, tramp, transient,
vagabond, vagrant, welfare bum
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Copyright © 2005 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Main Entry:
derelict
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: hobo
Synonyms: bag lady, beggar, bum, bummer, castaway, dawdler, delinquent,
drifter, floater, good-for-nothing, grifter, hobo, leper, loafer, lounger,
ne'er-do-well, outcast, pariah, remittance man, renegade, scumbag, skid-row
bum, slimeball, stiff, street arab, stumblebum, tramp, untouchable, vag,
vagabond, vagrant, wastrel
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Copyright © 2005 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Main Entry:
ragamuffin
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: poor person
Synonyms: beggar, bum, gamin, guttersnipe, hobo, loafer, orphan, scarecrow,
street arab, tatterdemalion, tramp, urchin, vagabond, vagrant, waif, wastrel
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Copyright © 2005 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Main Entry:
tramp
Part of Speech: noun 1
Definition: bum
Synonyms: baggage, beggar, bimbo, bo, bum, derelict, down-and-out, drifter,
floater, gypsy, hitchhiker, hobo, hussy, jezebel, loafer, moocher, outcast,
panhandler, prostitute, slut, stiff, street arab, strumpet, tramper,
vagabond, vagrant, wanderer, whore
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Copyright © 2005 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Main Entry:
traveler
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: journeyman
Synonyms: adventurer, barnstormer, bum, commuter, deadhead, displaced
person, drifter, excursionist, expeditionist, explorer, floater, gadabout,
globetrotter, gypsy, hiker, hobo, itinerant, jet-setter, journeyer,
junketer, migrant, navigator, nomad, passenger, peddler, pilgrim, rambler,
roamer, rover, rubberneck, sailor, salesman, seafarer, seatcover, sightseer,
street arab, tourist, tramp, transmigrant, trekker, tripper, trouper,
truant, vagabond, vagrant, voyager, wanderer, wayfarer
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Copyright © 2005 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Main Entry:
urchin
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: brat
Synonyms: brat, cub, dickens, gamin, guttersnipe, holy terror, imp, juvenile
delinquent, monkey, mudlark, punk, pup, ragamuffin, snot nose, snot-nose
kid, street arab, waif, whippersnapper, youngster
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Copyright © 2005 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Main Entry:
vagabond
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: wanderer
Synonyms: beachcomber, beggar, bum, deadbeat, derelict, down-and-out,
drifter, floater, gypsy, hobo, idler, itinerant, loafer, migrant, nomad,
outcast, piker, ragbag, rascal, road agent, rogue, rolling stone, rover,
stiff, stray, street arab, stumblebum, tramp, transient, traveler, vagrant,
wayfarer
Antonyms: inhabitant
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Copyright © 2005 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Main Entry:
vendor
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: seller
Synonyms: arab, bell-ringer, businessman, candy man, cheap jack, dealer,
drummer, hawker, huckster, medicine man, merchant, outcrier, peddler,
pitchman, pusher, roadman, spieler
Antonyms: customer
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Copyright © 2005 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
