Letter: A McWord...

Saturday 05 July 1997 23:02 BST

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I See the Oxford English Dictionary has chickened out of using the word "McJob" (22 June). If they need a precedent, the Random House Webster's College Dictionary, 1995 edition, lists: "McJob (mek job), n. an unstimulating low-wage job with few benefits, esp. in service industry. [1991, Amer; coined by Douglas Coupland in the novel Generation X]"

It's pathetic that we allow a corporation as bland and litigious as McDonald's to influence our language. A class action case might be made against them for cheapening the surnames of millions of Scots by converting the prefix "Mc" into a signifier for all-round cheesiness.

Douglas Coupland

Vancouver, Canada

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