Oh McDonald’s, why can’t you just focus on beautiful, golden French fries? Why do you have to pick on us?
Why are we whining? Because the McDonald’s corporation has launched a campaign to remove the word “McJob” from the Oxford English Dictionary.
Check out Chicago Public Radio’s interview of Erin McKean, editor of The New Oxford American Dictionary 2nd Edition, and what she had to say about the kerfluffle.
McDonald’s unsuccessfully tried the same campaign against Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary in 2003 and ABC News points out another fly in McDonald’s ointment: “But the McDonald’s publicity machine is trying to work the Mc-expression to its advantage. Last year, as part of its employer-branding strategy to woo the best staff, it displayed posters with the slogan “McProspects — over half of our executive team started in our restaurants. Not bad for a McJob.”
If we can have “Dr. McDreamy” and “Dr. McSteamy” as two exemplars on *Grey’s Anatomy*, then the Mc- prefix is in the language to stay (at least for a while). But, it seems to have a double application, also meaning, “very common; found everywhere.”