Perhaps the intent was only to suggest that lenders find themselves having to show forbearance to some borrowers who lack the motivation to meet their obligations, but it seemed to tar with the same brush all borrowers who find themselves unable to keep up with payments for any reason. I have seen the claim in many pieces about the home mortgage situation that the majority of defaulters have suffered either a major medical event or a job loss that drastically changed their ability to pay, rather than a preponderance of people just not caring about the repayment.

Here are the dictionary definitions of “deadbeat” that I found:

A non-payer who doesn’t bother to say why.
One who does not pay one’s debts.
A lazy person; a loafer.
One who persistently fails to pay personal debts or expenses

The frequent use of “deadbeat” in the phrase “deadbeat dads” has had the effect of burning the worst connatations of the word into everyone’s brain.

I agree that words matter, and should be chosen with care. I also think that a writer can use a word intentionally in a way that detracts and distracts from his main message.

And of course we’re all aware of the definition of slob and that it is a denigrating term. But there is a difference between writing “Jeff is a slob” and “some people are slobs.” The editorial did the latter, and if it’s denigrating, it’s also true: Some people are, in fact, slobs. More to the point of the editorial, it is the slobs of the world — the people who willfully neglect and worsen their own health (and there are such people) — who stand in contrast, from a risk-pool perspective, to the people who take measures to prevent having to seek health care. The editorial was examining what it considered to be potential inequities in an insurance system that would charge both groups equally. Could we have avoided the word? Of course. Did we need to? I don’t think so.

As to the B-slapping thing, the conservative radio utterer, his Gazette defender and the liberal critics that used the phrase did not display a level a maturity and sophistication one would expect in a civil and public dialog. At the bottom line, what benefit can the public derive from such an Opinion column? If hypocrisy is the issue, there are ample examples that can be derived from the conservative/liberal behaviors that do not necessitate bringing terms such as B-slapping into our homes to expose that same.
In any event, I thank you for your attempts to clarify these matters and fervently hope that future Opinion columns will reflect the same journalistic, literacy excellence and civility that is displayed in the reporting side of the Gazette.

Best regards,