McD’s is gonna be pissed to learn that the Japanese have coined a new McTerm. According to Mainichi, “McRefugees” describes a growing class of people who sleep overnight in Internet cafes, saunas and McDonald’s restaurants for few hundred to a thousand yen.
On another front, McDonald’s is fighting British dictionary publishers over their use of the term, “McJob.”
The Oxford English Dictionary, considered by many wordsmiths as the gold standard for the English language, is one of those that will be targeted. It defines the noun as “an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector.”
The word first cropped up two decades ago in the Washington Post, according to the dictionary. But executives at Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s say the definition is demeaning to its workers and say theyll ask dictionary editors to amend the definition.
“Dictionaries are supposed to be paragons of accuracy. And in this case, they got it completely wrong,” said Walt Riker, a McDonald’s spokesman. “It’s a complete disservice and incredibly demeaning to a terrific work force and a company that’s been a jobs and opportunity machine for 50 years.”
