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While reading a text, I ran into a sentence that left me confused:

The purpose of its publication is to offer homeless people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income, that is, "to help them to help themselves" by hiring them as vendors of the magazine.

In the sentence, does the word 'legitimate' mean 'allowed according to rules or laws' or 'reasonable'? I think it means 'allowed according to rules or laws' here however, when I consult the guide it says differently.

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    According to rules and law instead of begging
    – mplungjan
    Commented Nov 10, 2017 at 6:42
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    Tammy, what "guide" are you using? Legitimate is a legal term, although it might in some cases be used figuratively.
    – Xanne
    Commented Nov 10, 2017 at 6:49

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In this sense, "legitimate" means both legal and socially acceptable.

It implies they normally do not earn a normal/acceptable/legal income since the little money they have is often from begging or even petty crime.

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  • Thank you so mush for your kind answer. I didn't check your answer before I posted the same question with more context. Thank you.
    – tammy
    Commented Nov 10, 2017 at 6:45
  • "legitimate" means "socially acceptable"? I don't think that's a correct use of the term.
    – Xanne
    Commented Nov 10, 2017 at 6:47
  • In this context, legitimate implies acceptable in both the legal and social sense. Begging for example is legal, but is not considered a normal or acceptable form of regular income vs. being regularly employed.
    – SonOfPingu
    Commented Nov 10, 2017 at 8:26
  • I suspect it's also intended to contrast with welfare payments. This is legal, but it's not really "earned".
    – Barmar
    Commented Nov 10, 2017 at 20:07
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    In the United States (in some contexts) "legitimate income" may function as a code phrase for "taxable income." Charitable donations from passers-by on the street are obviously not subject to the normal conduits that control reported (that is, taxable) income—but neither are odd jobs or other cash-based employment arrangements where the money is paid "under the table," or (for that matter) illegal activities such as prostitution and drug sales. None of those activities produce what the government considers "legitimate income."
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Dec 10, 2017 at 8:57

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