Expurgations (4) Society

   This is a brief note about another word that may be expunged. If you have not been following this series, the previous three were: "Accident", "Illegal Aliens" and "Mistress." "Society" is now a word that is too exclusive for our inclusive times. Since you are unlikely to believe me, I will go directly to the sources.
   "New-York Historical Society Gets a New Name and a New Wing: The museum will now be called the New York Historical and will name a new Wing for American Democracy after two major benefactors, H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar L. Tang," Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, Oct. 27, 2024.
After 220 years of existence, New-York Historical Society is changing its name to the New York Historical....The name change — which becomes effective on Tuesday — is intended to distinguish the museum from the many other historical societies around the country, but also to be more welcoming, given that “society” in a title “has a bit of a highfalutin’ vibe,” said Ken Weine, the museum’s senior vice president and chief content officer.
Weine acknowledged that “the New York Historical” doesn’t necessarily make grammatical sense, but he likened it to the former Apple marketing campaign, “Think different."
“Brands can take a little bit of license,” Weine said. “We will officially be known as the New York Historical, but the shorthand can be, ‘Hey, I’ll see you at the Historical.’ That could be a name that we fall upon years down the road.”

  For more examples see: "This Go-to Term for Teamwork is Now a No-No For the Snobbery Police: Down With Fancy "Society Names," Mark Lasswell, The Washington Post, Jan. 29, 2025.
"Next month, the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society International will unite under a new name, the Humane World for Animals....Granted, “Humane World for Animals” might be strong, memorable, etc., and only a monster would object to the idea itself. But spare a thought for the word “society” as it is abandoned by yet another organization....Nowadays, though, when the faintest hint of exclusionary inclinations must be stamped out, “society” has gotta go....
It is historical societies, though, that seem especially intent on deeming “society” unfit for society. Since the 2000s, they’ve been madly deaccessioning the word — the Chicago Historical Society became the Chicago History Museum; the Colorado Historical Society became History Colorado; the Fairfield Historical Society in Connecticut became the Fairfield Museum and History Center; and the Ohio Historical Society became the Ohio History Connection.
  If you are a bird watcher, you may now have difficulty finding the local branch of the Audubon Society, since both his name and that word are problematic. For more about the new lingo see: Watch Your Mouth! or Out in Left Field.

The Bonus: Brush Up On These Words
 I have focussed enough on words being removed from our vocabulary, so I will now suggest some with which you should become more familiar. Rumour has it that Canada may be annexed and become the 51st state. If that happens the popularity of these words will surely soar on Google's Ngram Viewer: samizdat, weltschmerz and, disappeared, as explained in the OED:

"disappeared"
4.b.1965– transitive. spec. To abduct or arrest (a person), esp. for political reasons, typically killing or imprisoning the individual, without making his or her fate known.Originally and frequently with reference to Latin America.

1965
"One day, without explanation, he ‘was disappeared’ to Czechoslovakia, say reliable Cuban sources."
1987
"Our two Nicaraguan doctors were disappeared, one right after the other."
1990
"Armed men arrive in a village and ‘disappear’ any activists, several of whom have later been found floating in nearby rivers."
2006"It is estimated that some 7,000 people have been disappeared by security forces.