2008 Banned Words

[xoxoxoBruce]

How can anyone, in this country, not know what visitation means when it's on the news forty times a day?

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

How can anyone, in this country, not know what visitation means when it's on the news forty times a day?

I'm pretty sure we all know what it means. I'm just trying to figure out why 'visiting rights' sounds wrong to me. Style? Accustomed usage? Is it actually ungrammatical in my dialect of English?

I think it's probably the very reason you cite: visitation rights is pretty ubiquitous in the States.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle

I'm pretty sure we all know what it means. I'm just trying to figure out why 'visiting rights' sounds wrong to me. Style? Accustomed usage? Is it actually ungrammatical in my dialect of English?

I think it's probably the very reason you cite: visitation rights is pretty ubiquitous in the States.

Simply because 'visiting rights' is not what you're use to hearing on the news 40 times a day. There are a lot of correct English words that sound strange because they are seldom used. See any UG post.