Ellis: "There is no such thing as 'normal' or 'abnormal'."
The words "normal" and "abnormal" are normal
I mean, they have real meaning. If your doctor tells you that you have an abnormally high blood pressure, it's wise to face the fact of that abnormality. And at what time do office workers finish work? - If the tube train (subway) crush-hour is anything to go by, I'd say "normally" about 5pm. If I saw an advertisement for an office job with "abnormal" hours, I'd certainly anticipate that it would be something other than a five day week, 9 till 5 job.
I think almost any standard use of either of the words is acceptable, so long as the
frames of reference are well defined. For example, living in Thailand, I am culturally "abnormal". That doesn't imply that I'm in any way wrong or inferior. It means exactly what it says: outside of the norm. There are certain uses of the words that have been abandoned owing to stigmatisation, but that's a fault of society rather than semantics.
To borrow from Albert E., everything is relative! It's essential that the
frames of reference are clear. For example, if someone were to ask me what hours I usually work at the office, I might reply, " 4pm till 10pm are my normal hours". It's clear what I mean by 'normal'; and it's also clearly understood that such office hours are abnormal in a typical modern society.
