Spazzino

[Fozzie]

I got an email from an Italian friend, who says he works as "operatore ecologico" and adds "spazzino", and I don't know what any of it means. Help?

 

[DDT]

That's a "road-sweeper"

DDT

 

[carla1604]

Ciao a tutti,

“Operatore ecologico” is a recently coined expression, an euphemism for “street-sweeper”. I think it doesn’t make much sense. Lately in italian such euphemisms are very widely used, because some words (like vecchio, cieco, sordo…) could sound offensive..
For example:
we would say “non vedente” (a person that can’t see) rather than cieco (a blind person)
“non udente” (a person that can’t hear) rather than sordo (a deaf person)
“anziano” (elderly) rather than “vecchio” (old)

Carla

 

[morgana]

Isn't "spazzino" a garbage collector?

 

[lisetta]

Ciao a tutti,

“Operatore ecologico” is a recently coined expression, an euphemism for “street-sweeper”. I think it doesn’t make much sense. Lately in italian such euphemisms are very widely used, because some words (like vecchio, cieco, sordo…) could sound offensive..
For example:
we would say “non vedente” (a person that can’t see) rather than cieco (a blind person)
“non udente” (a person that can’t hear) rather than sordo (a deaf person)
“anziano” (elderly) rather than “vecchio” (old)


Carla

It seems that political correctness is alive and well in Italy as well as in the UK! Do you use that term (i.e. 'political correctness'), and if so how do you say it? corretezza politica?
Tante grazie, Lisetta

 

[DDT]

It seems that political correctness is alive and well in Italy as well as in the UK! Do you use that term (i.e. 'political correctness'), and if so how do you say it? corretezza politica?
Tante grazie, Lisetta

We normally use in Italian the English "politically correct"

DDT

 

[Sybil]

Interesting! And I thought only in the US you had to be politically correct.
You should avoid calling a person "deaf" or "blind" and say "person with a hearing impairment" or "person with a visual impariment." I even heard once someone use "sanitation engineer" for "garbage collector." I can see why the first two could make sense. But a "sanitation engineer"? To me, it's a stretch...

 

[lsp]

Interesting! And I thought only in the US you had to be politically correct.
You should avoid calling a person "deaf" or "blind" and say "person with a hearing impairment" or "person with a visual impariment." I even heard once someone use "sanitation engineer" for "garbage collector." I can see why the first two could make sense. But a "sanitation engineer"? To me, it's a stretch...

and it goes even further...
"challenged" is even more PC than "impaired", so for example "visually challenged" is another way to avoid saying blind.

 

[morgana]

Well, we have had a whole history of names for "handicapped"!
From the very offensive "mongoloide" or "mongolo", we got to "handicappato", then to "disabile", and now even "diversamente abile".
Personally I don't think discrimination it's a matter of which word you use...

Cheers

 

[Silvia]

I guess it's just hard to put a label on someone, whomever this might be, except for professions, which should be clear to anyone.