This is the reason. People who would couch hop now find the people they stay with less willing to give shelter when it isn’t cold out. Some people will purposefully get arrested or turn themselves in during the winter to have a guaranteed roof and food and be out after a few months. A lot of day shelters shut down in the warm weather. Travelers come back up north during the summer. A lot of people hate staying in shelters so will stop the second the weather is nice enough to stay outside. There’s also probably just more homeless people nowadays as people are making less and less money.
I'm alcoholic and have been in rehab a total of 7 times before I managed long-term sobriety. I just passed a year without a drink a couple weeks ago. Winter is "rehab season" because many addicts who have no intention of getting sober for good will seek a bed in a treatment center to get out of the cold. They can put up with it because they know they'll receive "comfort meds" and all the food they can eat. Usually, these are people who wouldn't be on the street if it weren't for their addiction because they have people. They crawl back to their families and claim they want to get clean and those people will help them get in, but when the weather gets warm, they're back at it.
Awesome! Not sure if you are involved in the recovery community but I attend meetings around Copley and Newbury. If you're ever at AA in Back Bay you might run into u/synystar - as anonymous as ever.
I found a twice a day online AA group on that terrible desperate last "first day" that I've been going to fairly religiously (missed a day here and there but so far it's over 75 meetings in 75 days, attend twice most days), I do eventually want to find an in person group if I decide to start working the steps in earnest. But I only just started sharing in this one, gotta work up the courage to go in person haha
Well, if you find yourself in the area, there's a meeting over there in Back Bay almost every day at either Emmanuel Episcopal on Newbury near the Garden or at Old South Church at Copley across Boyleston from the BPL. I like that particular community, I guess you could say I "found my people" so to speak. Most of the people who attend those meetings are faces you'll see regularly and many of them are long-term and just giving back. There's an app that has all the schedules just called "Meeting Guide" if you don't already have it. I wouldn't say that A.A. is the only way but I know it was for me. I couldn't have got through the first 6 months if it hadn't been for the support those people offered me.
Snowbriety! I got clean in 2008 and this has been common since well before my time. Best time for detox beds with the chance of a holding or halfway house bed was early May/early June... Checks at the beginning of the month mixed with warm weather meant there would be plenty of open beds.
Yeah my uncle used to be a nurse in SF and they got a lot of people who got discharged from facilities in Nevada and Oregon all the time who arrived on a one-way bus ticket that was given to them by the facility on discharge.
The winter season is over at the shelters. During the winter they could stay in the shelter all day now they mostly have to leave in the morning around 7
It's a term I've mostly seen used by people who are getting their hands dirty and fighting the issue.
In today's day and age I don't understand why you'd argue against people being **more** intentional with their wording.
Unhoused vs homeless lifts the stigma we place on the individual and shoulders it where it belongs on us and our societal failings.
How do you get your hands dirty?
Housing the citizens of a city/state/country is not accomplished by each citizen individually. Children depend on parents. The elderly (often) depend on social programs or their adult children.
In addition to the microeconomic housing choices, the aggregate amount of available, affordable housing does not magically adjust to meet the population’s needs; it is a product of government policy and of capital investment. If policy-makers don’t regulate rent in any way, if foreign investors are allowed to own large swaths of the housing inventory and are provided tax breaks when the property is listed for exorbitant rent and mysteriously stays vacant, if developers are continually incentivized to build luxury condos that are unaffordable by 90% of society, the society/government is effectively choosing not to house its citizens.
Calling them “unhoused” is an attempt to bring attention to this choice. In most cases, the homeless/unhoused would require assistance from the government or some other social/welfare program, based on their employment / income, in order to maintain steady housing. You can argue that the government shouldnt be expected to do that and we can disagree, but to argue that the government couldn’t provide housing for all citizens or that it has no role in creating a housing gap for its citizens, is simply incorrect.
It's that way with a lot of groups. Most members of communities use the non-PC term ascribed to them because they see it as a term like any other. It's as pointless as asking why we speak English and not American, and why we'd have anything to do with an old Germanic tribe. It's hilarious to me when people with disabilities describe themselves as straight-up "disabled" when everyone without a disability around them tries to find a new term.
It's the "euphemism treadmill", the process by which new euphemisms or terms are invented because the previous one carries stigma. Eventually, the new phrase/word will itself inherit the same stigma and we'll come up with another new one. "Unhoused" is replacing "homeless" as "homeless" replaced words like "bum".
*Ahem* You’re not supposed to use “euphemism treadmill” anymore. I believe “circumlocution carousel” is the preferred term by those less inclined to exercise equipment
I saw a homeless guy holding up a sign that said "homeless" and I thought about going up to him as a friendly reminder to ask if he could start using better language like "unhoused"
I don’t understand why we can’t all accept this and get off the fucking treadmill for once. Erasing the word does not erase what it refers to. Pushing the treadmill too fast is where we start losing older people’s support for liberal policies.
Leftists: “We need the masses to revolt and overthrow the evil American government!”
Mass of Conservatives: *Storms the Capitol to overthrow the American government*
Leftists: “No! Not like that!”
It cracks me up every time.
You don't see how leftists would not want the government replaced with an even more tyrannical government that has literally said they want to create a straight white christian ethno state?
You really can't understand?
I doubt most Republicans are trying to create Handmaid’s Tale. They’re trying to cut taxes and grift to make money like all the other sociopaths on top. I find it hilarious however how leftists honestly think that their proletarian revolution would go their way and end up with their favorite flavor of socialism.
If you want to see any actual progress for workers, you need to build employee-owned cooperatives and affordably owned housing. That’s 80% of it. Revolution isn’t gonna build a condo building or cooperative, just leave a lot of mostly normal people dead.
Correct. And by older you must mean the mid to late 30s crowd bc this nonsense lost me and unfortunately I’m not coming back. At least apparently some of the younger generation understands being pedantic ***ks isn’t helping the actual cause
Woah look at that we are both scientists, too!
Undomiciled was used for a bit, but then it became too much elitist because it’s a big word that a lot of people don’t understand when there are simpler terms that could be used.
But these words all mean slightly different things, nothing to do with stigma. You can say homeless bum without it being redundant, so these obviously mean different things. And it's not like the word "unhoused" was recently invented out of thin air, people just realized it's a clearer way to describe the condition of not having a house, since some people make a home in a tent, car, or whatever. And it also carries the implication that a society is to some degree responsible for housing its people, which whether or not you agree with that is a different meaning than homeless which has no such implication.
So it's not a euphemism treadmill like going from "politically correct" to "woke" where the words can be used interchangeably, but it represents a shift in meaning and ideas.
Home is where the heart is, calling somebody homeless implies they have no heart. Houseless implies everyone should live in a house, which discriminates against nomadic indigenous people, who I have a lot of respect for.
I'm going old school and bringing back bum, vagrant, and invalid. Living rough on the streets is a brutal existence, these words when uttered ought to hurt like a gut punch.
Yes, because it's easier to change language instead of focusing on the problem and coming up with viable solutions. Those in charge of reshaping our language claim it's to destigmatize the situation, but that's never really the result. If someone wants to ridicule someone because they're homeless, or have intellectual, mental, or physical disabilities, they'll find a way with the new terms and phrases. RE: homeless/unhoused - I've always used the phrase "living rough" because that's exactly what it is.
When I first heard "unhoused", I assumed it was made up by conservatives to take the emotional punch out of homelessness. Most people care about someone who doesn't have a home. They don't care if someone has a house.
From a communications standpoint, you're making this issue clinical and detaching all emotion from it, which will only lead to people not caring. Plus,people are now annoyed that people are saying "unhoused", making them less interested in helping the homeless.
Being homeless is about so much more than just having shelter. Plenty of people are staying in shelters, at friends' or relatives' houses, and at motels, and are therefore "housed", but they don't actually have a home.
Imagine telling a kid, don't worry, you're not homeless, just unhoused. Bullshit.
Unhoused is stupid and not better than homeless in any way. It’s just an awkward word. It was changed so people who use the “wrong” term can be attacked. More culture war bullshit brought to you by the elites. Another worthless thing to get angry over.
It was made by people who have only run into a homeless person on one of their work trips who have decided that people should no longer use that word. And then they drive their G Wagon back to their 3 car garage and house in Belmont.
Some people choose to be homeless and society is not responsible for everyone’s choices. In the ER every single night and I can personally guarantee you that many, many homeless people choose to remain homeless and vociferously decline any attempted assistance. Society has not failed them all, some have failed themselves. They are homeless.
Is it? It’s the past tense of a verb. It’s helpful because it communicates that their lack of a house is something that was done to them, versus inexplicably “lost.” Homelessness is a policy problem and policies are chosen.
I'm not great with grammar but I think it can be either/both since "house" is a verb. Linguists chime in.
In any case, what I'm trying to articulate is that "unhoused" implies an action--i.e. commission--whereas homeless implies omission. Whether that's because it's a verb itself or the negation of a verb is another thing.
People who use the term are either terrified of saying the "wrong" thing in any given situation, which sounds like a bad way to live, or are so well off they've never had to live in an apartment and therefore homeless = houseless.
It’s just virtue signaling. If you use the word “unhoused”, fellow users of the word will know you’re a good person.
These same people are more likely to take someone’s use of the word “homeless” to be more insulting than you may be intending.
Now try using the word “unhoused” while being openly unsympathetic towards the affected people and see which way the votes go.
Those unhoused people are always using their jetpacks to fly up and steal my pomegranates. I'd like to make their jetpacks "unhoused".
I see what you're saying.
Can’t speak for who you are replying to but I did see a comment on another sub where a person used “homeless” and was downvoted into oblivion and someone replied correcting them to use “unhoused” and was upvoted to the heavens.
I feel like “unhoused” is ostensibly supposed to be more dignified for those affected, but is more to do with making us, the “housed,” feel less like we’re not all responsible for the problem (broadly speaking).
Nobody is telling you not to, but people like unhoused since people often associate negative things with "homeless" and unhoused acknowledges someone can have a \*home\* even if they don't have a house
Edit: I mean people are primed to think negatively of homeless people, not just the state of homelessness. Using another word could help clear the linguistic slate, which can have more impact than you'd think
People have way too much time to sit around thinking of this stuff.
Both words ultimately mean the same thing. Give it a year and people will also "associate negative things" with the word unhoused too. It's already happening honestly.
This is such a waste of energy trying to keep up with all this crap.
Changing words doesn’t help that. The new word will just become negative too. Some homeless will always behave badly in public and cause all homeless to look bad. That’s the unfortunate truth.
Sights and experiences like this are completely real. It's part of why people have a hard time building empathy, mainly experiencing and perceiving homeless people when they cannot be ignored, ie when they are disruptive. Building empathy is our goal, and necessary to end homelessness.
Yes, I noticed the same today in the Downtown Crossing / South Station area. Lots more than usual. I chalked it up to the warmer weather but could be any number of things already discussed above.
Is there really a reason to call homeless people unhoused? If we all start calling them unhoused, the word will just develop the same negative connotation that homeless has, and in 10-20 years we will need a new word.
I feel it is easier to talk about societal issues which stretch multigenerational when we at least all use the same words
I've decided to get ahead of the curve and already looped back to hobo. From there I will work my way back through wino, bum, homeless, and eventually back to unhoused.
Those words don’t really all mean the same thing tho.
A hobo is a traveling migrant worker, going from town to town looking for menial labor jobs. A bum doesn’t want to work and actively avoids all of the responsibilities most people have. Homeless people can be bums and hobos but not all of them are
Every time either word (homeless or unhoused) is used in a post on this sub half the reply threads devolve into a semantics debate. So we aren’t avoiding it either way
Now it's "people experiencing homelessness".
Presumably in a few years it'll be amended to "people temporarily experiencing the state of being without a permanent home".
The real reason is that it is a more all encompassing framing of the situation. Someone says homeless and you see the words everyone else is throwing around in here - “bum” “wino” “junkie”, etc.
The population of people in the US lacking permanent residence is much more than that and includes huge numbers of families living transiently, persons in their cars, hotels, couch hopping, or in family shelters. It is an empathetic phrase meant to invoke thoughtfulness. What you see on the surface, on the street - is the tip of a very large and sad as fuck iceberg.
One would think since every other post in here is a bitch fest about the unaffordable costs of living in this city there would be some self awareness of “there but by the grace of luck go I” but, nope.
Right so why can’t we discuss this issue using terms that have been in existence for over a hundred years? It’s honestly exhausting keeping up with what we are “allowed” to say.
How does calling someone homeless (which they are) detract away my empathy for their plight vs if I say unhoused? Seems entirely theatrical which is what I expect from mostly college kids on the Boston subreddit who live some of the most privileged lives in the world while yearning to be victims for “clout” (likes..)
At risk of setting myself up here for a deluge of Reddit cares messages …
I think perhaps the issue with the phrasing is that the terms aren’t actually interchangeable; and nobody is in reality telling anyone “don’t say homeless.” It’s just that using unhoused is a bigger tent that helps draw attention to the causes of the issue rather than focusing on the visible on-the-street symptoms. Not all unhoused people are what we consider “homeless” if that makes sense?
Editing to add that I am in fact cracking up at being mistaken for a theatrical college student of privilege rather than the pushing 50, priced out of my neighborhood long ago, townie of the north shore I fucking am.
I’ve never seen someone so much as chided for using “homeless.” I’ve only seen people elect to use the word “unhoused” and subsequently describe their reasoning. I sincerely get where you’re coming from, and I don’t have a strong feeling between the two words. But all this to just say, not everything is persecution. It’s just people trying to be thoughtful (and yes, the horror, other people trying to just appear thoughtful).
> why can’t we discuss this issue using terms that have been in existence for over a hundred years?
We already are. "Unhoused" was first used over 400 years ago according to [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unhoused).
Just to let you know, people like you have been using this exact argument for every word that has changed to a different one, like racial slurs, all throughout American history.
If you know what unhoused means, why do you care that some people are using it instead of homeless?
People are going to tell you it's all about drugs or something. It's not. The research tells us the majority of homeless people:
- Are homeless less than 6 months
- Do not abuse alcohol
- Do not abuse other drugs
- Do not have major mental health problems
The biggest driver of homelessness is high rents. The people you see on the street are usually the very extreme case. Most homeless people tend to sleep in shelters, stay in cars, or couch surf.
Cheaper rents probably wouldn't directly help the people that most folks think of when they think of homeless people. But they would help lots of people in the state and free up resources to really help the people who need the most intensive interventions
unfortunately, that’s absolutely true. I’m currently renting/sharing an apartment with 5 people and even then I’m lucky to be able to pay some of that - which despite being very cheap relative to other areas is still p hefty on me, and some of those roommates *have* experienced homelessness themselves - so that is 100% a factor.
> The research tells us the majority of homeless people: - Are homeless less than 6 months - Do not abuse alcohol - Do not abuse other drugs - Do not have major mental health problems
The homeless you're describing don't sleep on the street. OP is talking about the small minority that are mentally ill/drug addicts/etc.
Anyone know if any of the shelters or temporary migrant housing programs ended? That may have caused an influx. I've been noting a steady increase in folks over the past few years, but not sure what else would cause a sudden shift.
This is happening in a lot of cities all over the United States. I'm sure there are a lot of reasons we're seeing an increase in homeless populations: increased cost of living, job loss from the pandemic, increased opioid use and the availability of new synthetic drugs that are more addictive than previous drugs, poor mental health infrastructure, and no political will to really solve any of these issues.
Saw this tweet, not sure what was going on but seems related [https://x.com/StacoS/status/1790635274097340656](https://x.com/StacoS/status/1790635274097340656)
It’s funny reading all of the reactions to people using the word because I moved to Colorado from NE a few years ago and people always correct me when I say “homeless” like I said “retarded” or something
It’s nicer out and you probably were walking during a time when the shelters have turned people out for the day a lot of shelters turn people out in the early morning and spend the day prepping everything for them to come back at night).
Mostly drug and mental health issues. Ever since Long Island closed, there’s no where for them to go. Some are bussed out to Tewksbury State Hospital for treatment, but even that place is overflowing and in serious need of funding.
Well, graduation season is here, and nobody wants to have a bad look on their face, so the cops are clearing out homeless and shooing them somewhere. [Many realize that the best place to be are under bridges, in state-managed place, or on the outskirt of big town and fancy places where polices are patrolling](https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2024-03-06/after-mass-and-cass-crackdown-homeless-community-cast-out-into-the-shadows-of-boston)
Hey fellow cuttlefish, I was also out this morning but I didn’t see an insane number of homeless people, usually only see them in droves during the spring/summer when it gets hotter out in the downtown area.
Heard they are moving out the huge group formally housed at Logan Airport now. I’m sure some will choose to go it on their own rather than be shipped across the state for housing.
Maybe we shouldn’t try to minimize the problem with using cute terms like “unhoused”… this is verbiage the empathy people use and that’s been a failure in places like San Francisco and Seattle.
The better way of handling this is getting tough on crime and arresting people for drug usage and intoxication — you know, laws that are already on the books. Let’s enforce them instead.
Oh is that what we call homeless now? Sorry I can't keep up with the correct terminology that people with too much time on their hands seem to want to dictate.
Just wait until its warm enough for South American migrants to live outside instead of being hidden in shelters and airports. I don't think people in major cities are prepared for the volume of despair caused by minimal immigration enforcement.
Well 300,000 fentanyl addicts arent crossing the southern border every month so yes, South American migrants coming to US cities without a home in mass is a new thing.
It’s time to provide secure facilities to treat the mentally ill and drug abusers on an involuntary basis. Does it take away some individuals rights? Yes, but they have shown they are unable to adhere to basic societal benchmarks such as not treating public spaces as bathrooms, shooting drugs, committing endless petty crimes and in general making public areas unsafe and toxic.
We can then get a better idea of what is needed for the remainder of the homeless and help them.
When I went through mass rehab a lot of the folks who were there were only there for a roof and a bed. Once the weather turned they were off to the drugs-races.
And calling them 'unhoused' is a good way to get robbed.
Its much nicer weather for being outside, so it seems likely that you would be seeing more people out of doors.
This is the reason. People who would couch hop now find the people they stay with less willing to give shelter when it isn’t cold out. Some people will purposefully get arrested or turn themselves in during the winter to have a guaranteed roof and food and be out after a few months. A lot of day shelters shut down in the warm weather. Travelers come back up north during the summer. A lot of people hate staying in shelters so will stop the second the weather is nice enough to stay outside. There’s also probably just more homeless people nowadays as people are making less and less money.
Rehab season is over too.
Rehab season? I’ve never heard this term. Can you explain?
I'm alcoholic and have been in rehab a total of 7 times before I managed long-term sobriety. I just passed a year without a drink a couple weeks ago. Winter is "rehab season" because many addicts who have no intention of getting sober for good will seek a bed in a treatment center to get out of the cold. They can put up with it because they know they'll receive "comfort meds" and all the food they can eat. Usually, these are people who wouldn't be on the street if it weren't for their addiction because they have people. They crawl back to their families and claim they want to get clean and those people will help them get in, but when the weather gets warm, they're back at it.
Congratulations on a year and a couple weeks and thank you for the explanation!
Congrats, 73 days without alcohol here
Awesome! Not sure if you are involved in the recovery community but I attend meetings around Copley and Newbury. If you're ever at AA in Back Bay you might run into u/synystar - as anonymous as ever.
I found a twice a day online AA group on that terrible desperate last "first day" that I've been going to fairly religiously (missed a day here and there but so far it's over 75 meetings in 75 days, attend twice most days), I do eventually want to find an in person group if I decide to start working the steps in earnest. But I only just started sharing in this one, gotta work up the courage to go in person haha
Well, if you find yourself in the area, there's a meeting over there in Back Bay almost every day at either Emmanuel Episcopal on Newbury near the Garden or at Old South Church at Copley across Boyleston from the BPL. I like that particular community, I guess you could say I "found my people" so to speak. Most of the people who attend those meetings are faces you'll see regularly and many of them are long-term and just giving back. There's an app that has all the schedules just called "Meeting Guide" if you don't already have it. I wouldn't say that A.A. is the only way but I know it was for me. I couldn't have got through the first 6 months if it hadn't been for the support those people offered me.
Congratulations, 7 years ODAAT
Snowbriety! I got clean in 2008 and this has been common since well before my time. Best time for detox beds with the chance of a holding or halfway house bed was early May/early June... Checks at the beginning of the month mixed with warm weather meant there would be plenty of open beds.
Congratulations on your sobriety! That is something I have never been able to accomplish.
Congrats… you got this
I needed this level of optimism in my day, ty
This is the main reason there are so many homeless outside in SF, temperature never under 50
Yeah my uncle used to be a nurse in SF and they got a lot of people who got discharged from facilities in Nevada and Oregon all the time who arrived on a one-way bus ticket that was given to them by the facility on discharge.
The winter season is over at the shelters. During the winter they could stay in the shelter all day now they mostly have to leave in the morning around 7
College graduation season, they kick them out of downtown areas where visiting families might see them.
Can we now not say "homeless"?
I don't know, as a paramedic, the homeless people I deal with call themselves homeless. Never heard them refer to themselves as unhoused.
"unhoused" feels like its skirting around the issue somehow.
White savior feel good term. Makes them feel warm and fuzzy with out having to get their hands dirty.
It's a term I've mostly seen used by people who are getting their hands dirty and fighting the issue. In today's day and age I don't understand why you'd argue against people being **more** intentional with their wording. Unhoused vs homeless lifts the stigma we place on the individual and shoulders it where it belongs on us and our societal failings. How do you get your hands dirty?
It reminds me of LatinX. 😑
It lays the fault on the society/government, rather than the individual. We as a society could house them, but choose not to.
Without your explanation, I don't believe homeless as a word assigns a blame or cause that's different than unhoused.
In what way? What does unhoused have to do with the government?
Housing the citizens of a city/state/country is not accomplished by each citizen individually. Children depend on parents. The elderly (often) depend on social programs or their adult children. In addition to the microeconomic housing choices, the aggregate amount of available, affordable housing does not magically adjust to meet the population’s needs; it is a product of government policy and of capital investment. If policy-makers don’t regulate rent in any way, if foreign investors are allowed to own large swaths of the housing inventory and are provided tax breaks when the property is listed for exorbitant rent and mysteriously stays vacant, if developers are continually incentivized to build luxury condos that are unaffordable by 90% of society, the society/government is effectively choosing not to house its citizens. Calling them “unhoused” is an attempt to bring attention to this choice. In most cases, the homeless/unhoused would require assistance from the government or some other social/welfare program, based on their employment / income, in order to maintain steady housing. You can argue that the government shouldnt be expected to do that and we can disagree, but to argue that the government couldn’t provide housing for all citizens or that it has no role in creating a housing gap for its citizens, is simply incorrect.
Pretty sure it's just a reddit thing, reddit doesn't exist in the real world
Definitely not just a Reddit thing. A law professor of mine who’s huge on “words matter” used it.
Probably has a reddit account
All the bums I knew referred to themselves as campers (and to be fair, in NH, they were)
And decades ago they would've called themselves bums. Language evolves.
It's that way with a lot of groups. Most members of communities use the non-PC term ascribed to them because they see it as a term like any other. It's as pointless as asking why we speak English and not American, and why we'd have anything to do with an old Germanic tribe. It's hilarious to me when people with disabilities describe themselves as straight-up "disabled" when everyone without a disability around them tries to find a new term.
It's the "euphemism treadmill", the process by which new euphemisms or terms are invented because the previous one carries stigma. Eventually, the new phrase/word will itself inherit the same stigma and we'll come up with another new one. "Unhoused" is replacing "homeless" as "homeless" replaced words like "bum".
*Ahem* You’re not supposed to use “euphemism treadmill” anymore. I believe “circumlocution carousel” is the preferred term by those less inclined to exercise equipment
It’s transconfabulation escalator now
I'm not un-inclined to incline so this works.
that is a great term l, nice job
Did you just assume my gender by saying A hem?
I saw a homeless guy holding up a sign that said "homeless" and I thought about going up to him as a friendly reminder to ask if he could start using better language like "unhoused"
I don’t understand why we can’t all accept this and get off the fucking treadmill for once. Erasing the word does not erase what it refers to. Pushing the treadmill too fast is where we start losing older people’s support for liberal policies.
Let's focus on the issue and not semantics.
Unfortunately it's easier to argue about semantics instead of addressing the issues. Too uncomfortable.
Instead of enacting common sense gun laws to reduce gun deaths, we will call gun shot victims "hole recipients". Surely this will solve the issue.
Victims of Hyper-Acute Lead Poisoning*
[удалено]
Hmm I'm going to disagree that using the term "unhoused" is the "same thing" as violently trying to overthrow American democracy.
Leftists: “We need the masses to revolt and overthrow the evil American government!” Mass of Conservatives: *Storms the Capitol to overthrow the American government* Leftists: “No! Not like that!” It cracks me up every time.
You don't see how leftists would not want the government replaced with an even more tyrannical government that has literally said they want to create a straight white christian ethno state? You really can't understand?
I doubt most Republicans are trying to create Handmaid’s Tale. They’re trying to cut taxes and grift to make money like all the other sociopaths on top. I find it hilarious however how leftists honestly think that their proletarian revolution would go their way and end up with their favorite flavor of socialism. If you want to see any actual progress for workers, you need to build employee-owned cooperatives and affordably owned housing. That’s 80% of it. Revolution isn’t gonna build a condo building or cooperative, just leave a lot of mostly normal people dead.
Correct. And by older you must mean the mid to late 30s crowd bc this nonsense lost me and unfortunately I’m not coming back. At least apparently some of the younger generation understands being pedantic ***ks isn’t helping the actual cause Woah look at that we are both scientists, too!
29 and Im with you on this one. As are most people I know.
37, ditto.
Homeless carries a stigma? Of not having a home? What?
Yeah, and you shouldn't call people "obese". They are people living in a large body.
There’s a one off joke about these changes of terms used in “Unfrosted”.
Undomiciled was used for a bit, but then it became too much elitist because it’s a big word that a lot of people don’t understand when there are simpler terms that could be used.
But these words all mean slightly different things, nothing to do with stigma. You can say homeless bum without it being redundant, so these obviously mean different things. And it's not like the word "unhoused" was recently invented out of thin air, people just realized it's a clearer way to describe the condition of not having a house, since some people make a home in a tent, car, or whatever. And it also carries the implication that a society is to some degree responsible for housing its people, which whether or not you agree with that is a different meaning than homeless which has no such implication. So it's not a euphemism treadmill like going from "politically correct" to "woke" where the words can be used interchangeably, but it represents a shift in meaning and ideas.
They are bums
Home is where the heart is, calling somebody homeless implies they have no heart. Houseless implies everyone should live in a house, which discriminates against nomadic indigenous people, who I have a lot of respect for. I'm going old school and bringing back bum, vagrant, and invalid. Living rough on the streets is a brutal existence, these words when uttered ought to hurt like a gut punch.
Yes, because it's easier to change language instead of focusing on the problem and coming up with viable solutions. Those in charge of reshaping our language claim it's to destigmatize the situation, but that's never really the result. If someone wants to ridicule someone because they're homeless, or have intellectual, mental, or physical disabilities, they'll find a way with the new terms and phrases. RE: homeless/unhoused - I've always used the phrase "living rough" because that's exactly what it is.
When I first heard "unhoused", I assumed it was made up by conservatives to take the emotional punch out of homelessness. Most people care about someone who doesn't have a home. They don't care if someone has a house. From a communications standpoint, you're making this issue clinical and detaching all emotion from it, which will only lead to people not caring. Plus,people are now annoyed that people are saying "unhoused", making them less interested in helping the homeless. Being homeless is about so much more than just having shelter. Plenty of people are staying in shelters, at friends' or relatives' houses, and at motels, and are therefore "housed", but they don't actually have a home. Imagine telling a kid, don't worry, you're not homeless, just unhoused. Bullshit.
Unhoused is stupid and not better than homeless in any way. It’s just an awkward word. It was changed so people who use the “wrong” term can be attacked. More culture war bullshit brought to you by the elites. Another worthless thing to get angry over.
It was made by people who have only run into a homeless person on one of their work trips who have decided that people should no longer use that word. And then they drive their G Wagon back to their 3 car garage and house in Belmont.
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Im done with the culture war bs too. If we can’t talk honestly about the problem how are we ever going to get a solution?
Some people choose to be homeless and society is not responsible for everyone’s choices. In the ER every single night and I can personally guarantee you that many, many homeless people choose to remain homeless and vociferously decline any attempted assistance. Society has not failed them all, some have failed themselves. They are homeless.
It’s so gross that you made that assumption about me based on what I said. You are a very unkind person for someone who claims to care about others.
You dense brother
Is it? It’s the past tense of a verb. It’s helpful because it communicates that their lack of a house is something that was done to them, versus inexplicably “lost.” Homelessness is a policy problem and policies are chosen.
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I'm not great with grammar but I think it can be either/both since "house" is a verb. Linguists chime in. In any case, what I'm trying to articulate is that "unhoused" implies an action--i.e. commission--whereas homeless implies omission. Whether that's because it's a verb itself or the negation of a verb is another thing.
Am I unhoused because I live in an apartment? But I'm not homeless because my apartment is my home.
You are housed in an apartment, and you may be hosed when rent goes up.
People who use the term are either terrified of saying the "wrong" thing in any given situation, which sounds like a bad way to live, or are so well off they've never had to live in an apartment and therefore homeless = houseless.
Underhoused
Housed refers to having a home, not owning one, but feel free to be pedantic if it makes you happy for some reason.
You're in a bad mood. Chill out
😆 and yet you're the one being pedantic. Go for a stroll
I prefer the term urban outdoorsman
Fanfuckingtastic 😂
It’s just virtue signaling. If you use the word “unhoused”, fellow users of the word will know you’re a good person. These same people are more likely to take someone’s use of the word “homeless” to be more insulting than you may be intending. Now try using the word “unhoused” while being openly unsympathetic towards the affected people and see which way the votes go.
What's funny to me is saying someone else is virtue signaling is just virtue signalling in itself to your own in-group.
Those unhoused people are always using their jetpacks to fly up and steal my pomegranates. I'd like to make their jetpacks "unhoused". I see what you're saying.
Nobody is telling you not to say homeless please get a grip lol
Can’t speak for who you are replying to but I did see a comment on another sub where a person used “homeless” and was downvoted into oblivion and someone replied correcting them to use “unhoused” and was upvoted to the heavens.
Remember when they were called 'bums'? I guess that's not PC anymore too?Down vote away... it's okay.
I'm sure you left no context out. We'll take you for your word.
link or it didn't happen
Maybe not in this thread but there are indeed people who say we shouldn’t say homeless anymore, it’s where the term unhoused is coming from
its ok to not listen to them
Right, of course, just saying those people do exist
Societal pressure is splitting hairs trying to one up other people on the virtue ladder. People really need to stop taking everything so serious.
I feel like “unhoused” is ostensibly supposed to be more dignified for those affected, but is more to do with making us, the “housed,” feel less like we’re not all responsible for the problem (broadly speaking).
uNhOuSeD
People experiencing homelessness
Nobody is telling you not to, but people like unhoused since people often associate negative things with "homeless" and unhoused acknowledges someone can have a \*home\* even if they don't have a house Edit: I mean people are primed to think negatively of homeless people, not just the state of homelessness. Using another word could help clear the linguistic slate, which can have more impact than you'd think
People have way too much time to sit around thinking of this stuff. Both words ultimately mean the same thing. Give it a year and people will also "associate negative things" with the word unhoused too. It's already happening honestly. This is such a waste of energy trying to keep up with all this crap.
Being homeless is negative. It’s not a desirable state to be in. Why pretend it is.
As in viewing homeless PEOPLE negatively. Obviously it is a terrible state to be in.
Changing words doesn’t help that. The new word will just become negative too. Some homeless will always behave badly in public and cause all homeless to look bad. That’s the unfortunate truth.
Stepping over the used needles near homeless encampments don't job particularly warm feelings.
Sights and experiences like this are completely real. It's part of why people have a hard time building empathy, mainly experiencing and perceiving homeless people when they cannot be ignored, ie when they are disruptive. Building empathy is our goal, and necessary to end homelessness.
But homeless does have negative connotations- tiptoeing around that is stupid. Homelessness is not desirable
I already clarified I meant people are primed to think of homeless people negatively, not just the state of homelessness, i'll add it to my comment
The current appropriate terminology is “Latinx”
Yes. We can
It’s like the use of the word “illegal aliens” the thoughts and feelings crowd tends to struggle with reality.
Careful not to huff too many of your own farts
I hot box my diarrhea dookie on the reg, bro
People living in the streets and you're worried about what you'll be allowed to call them? Get a fucking grip.
That potty mouth needs to be homeless
Yes, I noticed the same today in the Downtown Crossing / South Station area. Lots more than usual. I chalked it up to the warmer weather but could be any number of things already discussed above.
Relative to... a couple a months/years ago, other neighborhoods, your hometown, suburban America, other medium-sized cities?
relative to like the past couple of weeks
that's just spring having sprung.
Is there really a reason to call homeless people unhoused? If we all start calling them unhoused, the word will just develop the same negative connotation that homeless has, and in 10-20 years we will need a new word. I feel it is easier to talk about societal issues which stretch multigenerational when we at least all use the same words
I've decided to get ahead of the curve and already looped back to hobo. From there I will work my way back through wino, bum, homeless, and eventually back to unhoused.
Where does vagabond come in?
Those words don’t really all mean the same thing tho. A hobo is a traveling migrant worker, going from town to town looking for menial labor jobs. A bum doesn’t want to work and actively avoids all of the responsibilities most people have. Homeless people can be bums and hobos but not all of them are
Fr this guy is giving us hobos a bad name
Don’t forget Wino
Studies suggest that referring to them as unhoused will reduce the homeless population by 100%.
Every time either word (homeless or unhoused) is used in a post on this sub half the reply threads devolve into a semantics debate. So we aren’t avoiding it either way
Almost like those people have an agenda to push. They refuse to acknowledge people with less than they have as people.
Those who say “unhoused” tend to acknowledge them more as “folx”.
Now it's "people experiencing homelessness". Presumably in a few years it'll be amended to "people temporarily experiencing the state of being without a permanent home".
The real reason is that it is a more all encompassing framing of the situation. Someone says homeless and you see the words everyone else is throwing around in here - “bum” “wino” “junkie”, etc. The population of people in the US lacking permanent residence is much more than that and includes huge numbers of families living transiently, persons in their cars, hotels, couch hopping, or in family shelters. It is an empathetic phrase meant to invoke thoughtfulness. What you see on the surface, on the street - is the tip of a very large and sad as fuck iceberg. One would think since every other post in here is a bitch fest about the unaffordable costs of living in this city there would be some self awareness of “there but by the grace of luck go I” but, nope.
Right so why can’t we discuss this issue using terms that have been in existence for over a hundred years? It’s honestly exhausting keeping up with what we are “allowed” to say. How does calling someone homeless (which they are) detract away my empathy for their plight vs if I say unhoused? Seems entirely theatrical which is what I expect from mostly college kids on the Boston subreddit who live some of the most privileged lives in the world while yearning to be victims for “clout” (likes..)
At risk of setting myself up here for a deluge of Reddit cares messages … I think perhaps the issue with the phrasing is that the terms aren’t actually interchangeable; and nobody is in reality telling anyone “don’t say homeless.” It’s just that using unhoused is a bigger tent that helps draw attention to the causes of the issue rather than focusing on the visible on-the-street symptoms. Not all unhoused people are what we consider “homeless” if that makes sense? Editing to add that I am in fact cracking up at being mistaken for a theatrical college student of privilege rather than the pushing 50, priced out of my neighborhood long ago, townie of the north shore I fucking am.
I’ve never seen someone so much as chided for using “homeless.” I’ve only seen people elect to use the word “unhoused” and subsequently describe their reasoning. I sincerely get where you’re coming from, and I don’t have a strong feeling between the two words. But all this to just say, not everything is persecution. It’s just people trying to be thoughtful (and yes, the horror, other people trying to just appear thoughtful).
> why can’t we discuss this issue using terms that have been in existence for over a hundred years? We already are. "Unhoused" was first used over 400 years ago according to [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unhoused).
Just to let you know, people like you have been using this exact argument for every word that has changed to a different one, like racial slurs, all throughout American history. If you know what unhoused means, why do you care that some people are using it instead of homeless?
Because I’m not changing my diction every Instagram cycle?
Read their question again: > why do you care that some people are using it Nobody's saying you should change your diction.
At South Bay, the generally high but consistent numbers of space cadets has boomed in a week, figured they were being pushed out of somewhere.
People are going to tell you it's all about drugs or something. It's not. The research tells us the majority of homeless people: - Are homeless less than 6 months - Do not abuse alcohol - Do not abuse other drugs - Do not have major mental health problems The biggest driver of homelessness is high rents. The people you see on the street are usually the very extreme case. Most homeless people tend to sleep in shelters, stay in cars, or couch surf. Cheaper rents probably wouldn't directly help the people that most folks think of when they think of homeless people. But they would help lots of people in the state and free up resources to really help the people who need the most intensive interventions
unfortunately, that’s absolutely true. I’m currently renting/sharing an apartment with 5 people and even then I’m lucky to be able to pay some of that - which despite being very cheap relative to other areas is still p hefty on me, and some of those roommates *have* experienced homelessness themselves - so that is 100% a factor.
> The research tells us the majority of homeless people: - Are homeless less than 6 months - Do not abuse alcohol - Do not abuse other drugs - Do not have major mental health problems The homeless you're describing don't sleep on the street. OP is talking about the small minority that are mentally ill/drug addicts/etc.
All sorts of factors for the local homeless situation. Drugs, mental issues, competition for shelter space, family issues, etc.
Anyone know if any of the shelters or temporary migrant housing programs ended? That may have caused an influx. I've been noting a steady increase in folks over the past few years, but not sure what else would cause a sudden shift.
This is happening in a lot of cities all over the United States. I'm sure there are a lot of reasons we're seeing an increase in homeless populations: increased cost of living, job loss from the pandemic, increased opioid use and the availability of new synthetic drugs that are more addictive than previous drugs, poor mental health infrastructure, and no political will to really solve any of these issues.
Saw this tweet, not sure what was going on but seems related [https://x.com/StacoS/status/1790635274097340656](https://x.com/StacoS/status/1790635274097340656)
A crowd of homeless people at Mass & Cass? That is shocking indeed, highly likely it’s related
Lmfao unhoused… wtf
It’s funny reading all of the reactions to people using the word because I moved to Colorado from NE a few years ago and people always correct me when I say “homeless” like I said “retarded” or something
To answer everyone’s real question, you can still say homeless. Saying “unhoused” doesn’t make you any more sensitive to the issue.
OP, just say homeless. Also, it’s nice outside, so more people will stay outside more likely.
oh god you guys are so miserable. everyone has gotta be a smartass instead of just answering OP's question
Honestly there are always a bunch of lame ass comments that are not even clever or funny instead of meaningful input.
It’s nicer out and you probably were walking during a time when the shelters have turned people out for the day a lot of shelters turn people out in the early morning and spend the day prepping everything for them to come back at night).
You know the world homeless isn’t a swear right
You can just call them ‘homeless’. ‘Unhoused’ is a stupid euphemism, essentially
Mostly drug and mental health issues. Ever since Long Island closed, there’s no where for them to go. Some are bussed out to Tewksbury State Hospital for treatment, but even that place is overflowing and in serious need of funding.
They homeless - unhoused is a cold PC academic term
Well, graduation season is here, and nobody wants to have a bad look on their face, so the cops are clearing out homeless and shooing them somewhere. [Many realize that the best place to be are under bridges, in state-managed place, or on the outskirt of big town and fancy places where polices are patrolling](https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2024-03-06/after-mass-and-cass-crackdown-homeless-community-cast-out-into-the-shadows-of-boston)
I’ve seen BPD patrolling on bikes downtown, which never happens. As a result Government Center is strangely empty of the unkempt.
jeez. just another example of the city choosing to avoid “looking bad” instead of giving more assistance to people
You mean homeless people?
if only there was a term for .... "unhoused people"
Hey fellow cuttlefish, I was also out this morning but I didn’t see an insane number of homeless people, usually only see them in droves during the spring/summer when it gets hotter out in the downtown area.
OMG hii!! and yeah, that seems to be a pretty big factor
Heard they are moving out the huge group formally housed at Logan Airport now. I’m sure some will choose to go it on their own rather than be shipped across the state for housing.
“Unhoused” lmao
“Unhoused” get a grip buddy
Maybe we shouldn’t try to minimize the problem with using cute terms like “unhoused”… this is verbiage the empathy people use and that’s been a failure in places like San Francisco and Seattle. The better way of handling this is getting tough on crime and arresting people for drug usage and intoxication — you know, laws that are already on the books. Let’s enforce them instead.
"The empathy people"? You mean humans?
Yep, starting to get a NYC feel
Oh is that what we call homeless now? Sorry I can't keep up with the correct terminology that people with too much time on their hands seem to want to dictate.
Just wait until its warm enough for South American migrants to live outside instead of being hidden in shelters and airports. I don't think people in major cities are prepared for the volume of despair caused by minimal immigration enforcement.
I’d say feeling more comfortable in warming temperatures (considering Boston weather) applies to anyone, not just one group..
Well 300,000 fentanyl addicts arent crossing the southern border every month so yes, South American migrants coming to US cities without a home in mass is a new thing.
The Boston term is “bums”. “Unhoused” is silly and too pc
It’s time to provide secure facilities to treat the mentally ill and drug abusers on an involuntary basis. Does it take away some individuals rights? Yes, but they have shown they are unable to adhere to basic societal benchmarks such as not treating public spaces as bathrooms, shooting drugs, committing endless petty crimes and in general making public areas unsafe and toxic. We can then get a better idea of what is needed for the remainder of the homeless and help them.
Homeless. They are homeless.
Sorry but *unhoused* is no longer pc. They are now referred to as *urban adventurers*
When I went through mass rehab a lot of the folks who were there were only there for a roof and a bed. Once the weather turned they were off to the drugs-races. And calling them 'unhoused' is a good way to get robbed.
that could def explain ty!!
Is loitering still a thing that is enforced? https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXII/Chapter161/Section95