Shorthand

👁 RORSCHACH

RORSCHACH

Senior Member

Iran

Farsi-persian

Hi
what does "shorthand" mean in this following sentence?

women's clothing is a powerful shorthand for all that is wrong with native culture and all that must be corrected by the empire.

shorthand in dictionary means a system of writing, but what does it mean here?


source:Why do empires care about women's clothes - Aeon Magazine

👁 se16teddy

se16teddy

Senior Member

London but from Yorkshire

English - England

http://aeon.co/magazine/society/why-the-us-wants-to-liberate-afghan-women/

British people hearing about sati no doubt assumed that there were lots of other things wrong with Indian culture. It was not necessary to discuss the other things, because the mention of sati brought other things into the reader's minds. It was a short way of referring to the perceived evils of Indian culture. So it is with the burqa.

👁 natkretep

natkretep

Moderato con anima (English Only)

Singapore

English (Singapore/UK), basic Chinese

I don't quite like the way shorthand is used here; it usually means some abbreviated form. Here it means something like symbol or index.

👁 RORSCHACH

RORSCHACH

Senior Member

Iran

Farsi-persian

thank you it was so helpful.

👁 Dale Texas

Dale Texas

Senior Member

El Paso, TX (raised PA, ex New Yorker)

English USA

It sounds perfectly normal to me in AE to use "shorthand for" to in fact mean "a symbol of," something that instantly encapsulates the whole idea at once.

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