Originally Posted by
saddlesores
that's just political correctness. can't call bums or vagrants or crack-heads naughty things.
might hurt their self-esteem.
I don't see it as anything to do with political correctness, merely a differentiation between people who are in a situation through circumstance and people who are in an apparently comparable situation through choice.
It really is no different to the way I went to the unemployment office when I was laid off from my job some 20-odd years ago but didn't waste their time when I found myself technically unemployed because one job ended a few days before the next one started, not least because I planned it that way to get myself a few days to put my feet up. It's nothing to do with political correctness to differentiate between my "unemployment" for three planned days and the unemployment of someone who would be willing to do just about any work anyone would pay them to do.
In response to Machka's post, technically I'd agree that "destitute" is a more appropriate word although generally whenever I've heard someone talk about someone being "homeless" it's not used in a context of someone who chose to give up their home so they could go on an extended tour without having to pay the mortgage while they were gone.