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Merriam-Webster has one word for United: Volunteer

It's pretty black and white.

 

Monica Riese

Internet Culture

Posted on Apr 11, 2017   Updated on May 24, 2021, 5:52 pm CDT

One word’s been all over headlines for the past 36 hours: dragged.

United Airlines is under fire for video footage that showed a passenger being forcibly dragged off an airplane after he was randomly selected to be removed from an overbooked flight and he protested, explaining he was a doctor who needed to return to see patients. But Merriam-Webster opted for the Urban Dictionary version of dragged when it dragged United with this spot-on tweet.

By doing nothing more than defining the word “volunteer,” Merriam-Webster managed to highlight the absurd juxtaposition of a corporate statement talking about volunteers and the stark images of a man being forcibly removed from the plane and returning with a bloodied face.

In the case of United, actions might speak louder than words, but words sure know how to throw some serious side eye.

H/T Mic

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*First Published: Apr 11, 2017, 11:40 am CDT