I realize some people might believe I’m being almost sacrilegious, and committing some kind of grievous sin, by suggesting we do away with this expression that has become so common. One online definition of ‘sacrilege’ says it means “the violation or profanation of anything sacred or held sacred” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sacrilege). And of course, most reasonable people, with good reason, perceive that terrible day and its aftermath as something sacred, to be remembered, as they cherish forever the memories of friends and loved ones needlessly and brutally murdered that day.
But if many people like the expression ‘9/11’ because it’s so easy to use and because it’s become so common in our lexicon, or vocabulary, that lends credence to my suggestion that the expression should be phased out and discontinued. The expression ‘9/11’ is too easy to use, and also too common, and that’s precisely why it should be discontinued. It runs the risk of becoming trite, just a catchphrase, and somehow meaningless; notwithstanding the powerful and emotional significance of the expression when it first started being used--and of course which it still has.
I believe that over time, if it hasn’t already begun happening, the continued use of the expression ‘9/11’ will lead many people to forget the specific year in which the ‘9/11’ air attacks occurred in New York City, Washington, and Pennsylvania.
I believe that over time, if it hasn’t already begun happening, the continued use of the expression ‘9/11’ will lead many people to forget the specific year in which the ‘9/11’ air attacks occurred in New York City, Washington, and Pennsylvania.
For instance, as a rule I have a good memory for names, dates, song lyrics, melodies, and other such things. And while I always know the event to which the expression ‘9/11’ refers, I sometimes have to stop and remind myself of the year in which that awful event occurred. First, I think back to where I was, and the approximate time, when I first learned of the air attacks in New York. As I wrote in a previous blog posting, I was sitting at my computer writing an essay, around 9 a.m. I turned on the ‘Today’ show on T.V. and saw what happened just minutes earlier. ‘Oh, yes,’ I then tell myself, ‘it was 2001 and I was just starting my master’s degree.’
The meaning of the expression ‘9/11’ has even entered dictionaries, such as the online MACMILLAN DICTIONARY: “9/11’ definition: 11 September 2001, when planes flown by terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, damaged the Pentagon, and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, killing thousands of people” (http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/number-9-11). Similarly, The Free Dictionary, also online, states: “9/11 or 9-11: September 11, 2001, the date on which two hijacked airliners were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City and another into the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked airliner crashed in open land in Pennsylvania” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/9%2F11).
Notably, both of these dictionary definitions of ‘9/11’ rightly specify the year in which the attacks took place. They would’ve been irresponsible if they'd just stated what happened, without specifying the year. Similarly, I think most people who use the expression ‘9/11’ without specifying the year to which it refers are unwittingly being irresponsible and even seem disrespectful to all of the unfortunate innocent victims, living and dead, of that terrible day. Nobody means to seem trite and disrespectful by omitting the year when they refer to the event, but I think that’s what has implicitly begun happening.
I’ve often wondered who first used the expression, ‘9/11.’ Was it someone in the media? Or President George Bush? Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani? In fact, one online source, The Morning Delivery: Feats, Facts, and Historic Firsts About Items in the News (http://www.billlucey.com/2010/09/who-coined-the-term-911.html), concedes it’s hard to remember or to know for sure who first coined the expression ‘9/11.’
But the website claims the New York Times “first used the term ``9/11’’ in a headline for a Bill Keller op-ed article on September 12, 2001: ``Correspondent: America’s Emergency Line: 9/11’’ The Morning Delivery says when Jack Rosenthal, President of The New York Times Company Foundation was asked about the origin of the expression ‘9/11,’ he responded by email on his recollection of the day:
The meaning of the expression ‘9/11’ has even entered dictionaries, such as the online MACMILLAN DICTIONARY: “9/11’ definition: 11 September 2001, when planes flown by terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, damaged the Pentagon, and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, killing thousands of people” (http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/number-9-11). Similarly, The Free Dictionary, also online, states: “9/11 or 9-11: September 11, 2001, the date on which two hijacked airliners were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City and another into the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked airliner crashed in open land in Pennsylvania” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/9%2F11).
Notably, both of these dictionary definitions of ‘9/11’ rightly specify the year in which the attacks took place. They would’ve been irresponsible if they'd just stated what happened, without specifying the year. Similarly, I think most people who use the expression ‘9/11’ without specifying the year to which it refers are unwittingly being irresponsible and even seem disrespectful to all of the unfortunate innocent victims, living and dead, of that terrible day. Nobody means to seem trite and disrespectful by omitting the year when they refer to the event, but I think that’s what has implicitly begun happening.
I’ve often wondered who first used the expression, ‘9/11.’ Was it someone in the media? Or President George Bush? Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani? In fact, one online source, The Morning Delivery: Feats, Facts, and Historic Firsts About Items in the News (http://www.billlucey.com/2010/09/who-coined-the-term-911.html), concedes it’s hard to remember or to know for sure who first coined the expression ‘9/11.’
But the website claims the New York Times “first used the term ``9/11’’ in a headline for a Bill Keller op-ed article on September 12, 2001: ``Correspondent: America’s Emergency Line: 9/11’’ The Morning Delivery says when Jack Rosenthal, President of The New York Times Company Foundation was asked about the origin of the expression ‘9/11,’ he responded by email on his recollection of the day:
``Like just about everyone else in America, I kept asking myself all day, what can we do. That evening, the answer dawned on me: do just what we do every day at The Times Company Foundation, philanthropy. Why don't we start a relief fund?...Let's create a special solicitation of Times readers around the country. That night…I sent e-mails to…our…executives describing the idea and calling it The New York Times 9/11 Neediest Fund. By morning, everyone had signed on so I did the next natural thing for a former reporter and editor; I wrote it up as a story, as a convenient way to get the information across to the hugely harried Times news department.’’
The New York Times 9/11 Neediest Fund’s first article appeared on September 13; and according to Rosenthal, the fund raised $62 million with the money distributed within the first 6 months which benefited 30,000 of the neediest families.
--Bill Lucey (WPLucey@gmail.com)
We should also remember the expression ‘9/11’ is a quick and handy way for the media to refer to that day 10 years ago; to make snappy, eye-catching headlines and broadcast ‘sound bites.’ But if ‘9/11’ was first used by the media, partly for convenience because it’s a fast way to mention the tragedy, we should remember that those who don’t work in the media have no need to abbreviate references to what happened that dark day.
So, to help preserve the memories of that day, we should all start including the year ‘2001’ when referring to the tragedy. In doing so, we could all seem more-respectful to the victims of that massacre, and help ensure we are always able to remember the specific date and year, by simply saying ‘September 11, 2001;’ or even ‘9/11/01.’
Neither of these two expressions is too long or cumbersome, and they’re both easy to say once you get used to them.
Neither of these two expressions is too long or cumbersome, and they’re both easy to say once you get used to them.
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