Posting in a troll thread.
But I've heard people bring this up as a legitimate concern, both on blue and red, so:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Google Definitions
hol·o·caust
ˈhäləˌkôst,ˈhōlə-/Submit
noun
1.
destruction or slaughter on a mass scale, especially caused by fire or nuclear war.
"a nuclear holocaust"
synonyms: cataclysm, disaster, catastrophe;
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=holocaust
Entymology of the word Holocaust:
holocaust (n.) Look up holocaust at Dictionary.com
mid-13c., "sacrifice by fire, burnt offering," from Greek holokauston "a thing wholly burnt," neuter of holokaustos "burned whole," from holos "whole" (see holo-) + kaustos, verbal adjective of kaiein "to burn." Originally a Bible word for "burnt offerings," given wider sense of "massacre, destruction of a large number of persons" from 1833. The Holocaust "Nazi genocide of European Jews in World War II," first recorded 1957, earlier known in Hebrew as Shoah "catastrophe." The word itself was used in English in reference to Hitler's Jewish policies from 1942, but not as a proper name for them.
Auschwitz makes all too clear the principle that the human psyche can create meaning out of anything. [Robert Jay Lifton, "The Nazi Doctors"]
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So the word has been around since at least the 13th Century AD.
It was not used to reference a "mass slaughter" until the mid 17th century.
It was finally used to define the slaughter of Jews and Hitler's policy against non-whites and "unacceptable" religions, but take note that this is "The Holocaust" which is an example of a holocaust, though by far the most well-known one.
To the handful of people I've met who actually do find that offensive, I hope that helps to broaden your understanding of the word. There can be arguments made that just about anything is offensive, because words only hold the meaning we ascribe to them. I think Holocaust is a great name for a PvP guild, and unless its members/leaders specifically start referencing it in a historical sense related to the slaughtering of Jews, we don't see any problem in letting it stay.