And while I’m taking a swing at the good Dr. J, let’s try and work out why he bothers to say "current effete sensibilities" at all. What the hell does he mean?
Well, effete means worn out or exhausted. The original meaning was related to being exhausted from giving birth. The meaning gradually widened to take in ‘degenerate’ and ‘without fresh ideas’. Recently it has also begun to acquire the meaning of ‘effeminate’.
And "sensibilities"? He could have said sensitivities or feelings but sensibilities sounds that bit grander. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif" alt="" />
So what he’s probably aiming at is something along the lines of accusing those responsible for PTSD of being 'a bunch of bleeding heart limp-wristed types'. Unfortunately, by saying "effete sensibilities" he ensures that some of his readers won’t know what that means at all, and those of us who do know what effete and sensibilities mean will see several possible interpretations of the phrase.
But let’s be clear here! Dr J. is not using the phrase to enlighten us, he’s using it to show off a little – or more accurately to demonstrate to the reader that he’s a person who knows lots of long words and is not a fan of "Shell Shock" just because so simple that he can understand it. No sirree! The doc is not scared of tricky phrases like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, because – look – he knows what "effete sensibilities" are, or thinks he does. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
A good sub-editor would have deleted the phrase altogether and left it as:
"It still means the same thing, and it still hurts as much or as little."
Dr J is as guilty of waffle as the rest of us. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" />
