The non-story of the week: what to call them. NPR's on it. Wall Street Journal's got it.
ISIS? ISIL? Tomato? Tomahto?
The president's settled on ISIL, I guess to deprive them of any claim to Syria, but even on that one, pronunciation differs. Is it "Eye-sul" or "Ee-sul?" The first one sounds like you meant to say ISIS but remembered midway and the second sounds like a darling little girl in a Grimm fairy tale.
I'm glad the terrorists themselves rejected "ISIS." Kind of embarrassing to claim caliphate status when you're named after a pre-Abrhamic goddess. Ruined a perfectly good Dylan song, too.
Many in the media have punted, using the mouthful "the group that calls itself Islamic State," but that's just a bit too Prince in the I-hate-Warner-Brothers era. "Unemployed Thugs in Camo" would be good, but that describes way too many groups, including a number here in the Holy Homeland.
I propose ISN'T.
First of all, the group ISN'T any sort of "Islamic State," something which actual Islamic states will be quick to tell you. Especially those like Saudi Arabia and Turkey which hold some historical claims to the title, caliphatically speaking.
Secondly, ISN'T is a word everyone pronounces the same way. No confusion there.
We can also use the term as a common noun, referring to the actual unemployed thugs in camo. "A drone strike in Syria killed more than two dozen high-level ISN'Ts today." Sort of a respectful way of calling 'em a bunch of nobodies.
Most of all, it'll be fun assigning meaning to the acronym. "Islamic State Nobody Trusts?" "Islamic State Nobody Takes seriously?" "I Said No Tobacco?"
Sorry if I'm taking this too lightly. I know a lot of folks who sit in front of cameras and microphones say this group is the greatest threat to civilization right now.
But it ISN'T.