Folk theory of meaning has hypostasis of reference in the Imus controversy
Imus’s last outrage? - The Boston Globe
Imus apologized for his latest remark and was suspended for two weeks. But this time, his job could be on the line, said John DePetro, a radio talk show host who was fired by WRKO after calling gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross a “fat lesbian.”“As much as mine was mean-spirited, it was factually accurate,” said DePetro, who now works at WPRO in Providence. The problem with the Imus comment, he said, is “there’s no way to defend it. These girls are not whores. They are not prostitutes.”
This is an illuminating reflection on the folk theory of figurative meaning. No matter what trope a reference is, it is more powerful if a simple lexical reference (with a truth value) can be established. Of course, Imus’s comment never implied that the basketball players were prostitutes. He was referencing the term “ho” as used in contemporary popular culture rather than as its source meaning of ‘whore’. It wasn’t even “mean-spirited” - in the most basic sense. The problem in terms of racial discrimination was the unthinking use of a term like this by a public figure (this was well-discussed on one of the more recent editions of News and Notes Roundtable.
