We are gonna run out of words
Muse #315 - seriously!
Political correctness is the usage of words is reaching its peak of insanity. Recently I read an article by a local Canadian website, CBC (the Canadian government-sponsored equivalent of the BBC) on why several words should not be used. Every word has a history and background. And local connotations. Now add to this expectation of correctness, we will all end up using only sign language and emoticons (fingers excluded of course)
I have written about the cognitive overload of political correctness before with an excellent embedded comedy routine from George Carlin, and on the nuances of language in my previous articles.
It boggles my mind when the media is trying to control the use of language which is draconian by any measure and claiming anti-racial training as a source of that stupidity. A holier than though article to use controversy to garner readership at best. One should stop trying to engineer the behavior of populations through diktat and let the local culture, custom, and practices figure things out to evolve into whatever things evolve to.
Until then, I plan to ignore them, ask them to take a leap, and continue on…
Sources: Opinion post on CBC and counterpoint from National Post
Words and phrases you may want to think twice about using — https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/words-and-phrases-commonly-used-offensive-english-language-1.6252274
Jesse Kline: CBC's 18 words you can't say is the dumbest thing I've ever heard — https://nationalpost.com/opinion/jesse-kline-cbcs-18-words-you-cant-say-is-the-dumbest-thing-ive-ever-heard