What is the correct way to refer to someone in jail? Prisoner, convict, jailbird, inmate?
by 
mikeyj
ANSWERS: 7
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I think prisoner works best. Convicts don't have to be in prison, jailbird seems a little archaic, and inmate seems like a term other prisoners give each other.
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When you watch Jerry Springer all the baby's daddy's are INCARCERATED. That is the highfalutin word for all of your above. incarcerate Main Entry: in·car·cer·ate Pronunciation: in-'kär-s&-"rAt Function: transitive verb Inflected Form(s): -at·ed; -at·ing Etymology: Latin incarceratus, past participle of incarcerare, from in- + carcer prison 1 : to put in prison 2 : to subject to confinement
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many of them i would consider to be victims of a racist culture. i think 70% of women are in prison for non-violent crimes. there are hundreds (even more) of innocent people behind bars and most of them are people of color. more than 70% of the people inprisioned are people of color.. yet they don't even make up half of the u.s. landscape. did you know that prisons are privately owned and many corporations profit from them. i think they are the most profitable company besides oil based companies.
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Call him a fish....
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I prefer "inmate". "Prisoner" implies actual state or federal prison rather than just doing sixty in the county jail, and "convict" and "jailbird" have negative connotations.
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An inmate is in prison serving time. A person in jail is either waiting for a trial or serving time for a misdemeanor offense. A convict is a person that has served his prison time. A prisoner is a person currently serving time. And, a jailbird is slang for all of the above. Now, you know.
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I have been into many jails, and the polite term is "inmate".
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