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with Anu Gargrachmanism
PRONUNCIATION:
(RAK-muh-niz-uhm)
MEANING:
noun:
The exploitation and intimidation of tenants by landlords.
ETYMOLOGY:
After Peter Rachman (1919-1962), a landlord in London who became notorious
for unethical practices including driving out tenants to maximize revenue
from his rental properties. Another fellow who got his name in the dictionary
for harassing tenants is Charles Boycott (1832-1897), a British land agent in
Ireland, whose mistreatment of tenants resulted in his getting ostracized,
i.e. he was boycotted.
USAGE:
"It is a story of pure Rachmanism. She had been threatened, had her rent
cheque refused, her electricity cut off, and seen her absent neighbours'
flats cleared of all their possessions, while rubbish was dumped outside
her door."Peter Beaumont; Drowned City Cuts Its Poor Adrift; The Observer (London, UK); Dec 11, 2005. NOTES:
The term Rachmanism is a Britishism, though unscrupulous landlords are
found everywhere. The above usage example is from the UK, but even if
not mentioned, it'd be easy to tell: in just one sentence it manages
to include four examples that illustrate the spelling and vocabulary
differences between British English and American English:cheque/check, neighbour/neighbor, flat/apartment, and rubbish/trash. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I find it difficult to feel responsible for the suffering of others. That's why I find war so hard to bear. It's the same with animals: I feel the less harm I do, the lighter my heart. I love a light heart. And when I know I'm causing suffering, I feel the heaviness of it. It's a physical pain. So it's self-interest that I don't want to cause harm. -Alice Walker, author (b. 1944)
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