Post taken from the Christo Linguist facebook page.

I think it’s humorous that the headlines say that governors and mayors are banning “non-essential” travel to Mississippi. Does anyone know why? Because they can’t legally stop anyone from traveling there! That’s not within their jurisdiction. Saying that you’re banning non-essential travel is the same as demanding that someone not to do something even though, in reality, I can’t stop you. Don’t be fooled by media’s linguistic tricks. These “bannings” do not accomplish anything but to trick the linguistically and legally ignorant person into thinking that what these people are doing is significant.

If someone can do a better job at defining what they mean by “non-essential” then a conversation can be had. Here is a quick, but not authoritative, media clip that will help shed some light on the subject.

.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php…

Pass this on!

‪#‎theChristolinguist‬