I'm all for being sensitive to others' feelings, but politically correct speech freaks (how's that for political correctness?) just annoy the hell out of me. What I am about to type is a huge, potentially unfair, and certainly politically incorrect generalization, but here it is: people who are that easily offended by innocuous speech are seriously lacking in self-esteem, boundaries, and/or the ability to hold ambiguity in their minds without their heads exploding.
Anyway, here are the Top Ten Politically Incorrect Words for 2006:
The Top Politically inCorrect Words for 2006:Hey, I kind of like Menaissance, but not if it means basically the same as metrosexual.
Macaca, Global Warming Denier, Herstory and Flip Chart Top Annual List
San Diego, California (December 13, 2006) Macaca, Global Warming Denier, Herstory and Flip Chart top the list of the most egregious examples of politically correct language found in 2006 by the Global Language Monitor (www.LanguageMonitor.com) in its annual global survey.
"In 2006, the Political Correctness movement continued to gain momentum to the effect that many were unaware of the extent that it had inserted itself into ordinary English-language conversations,” said Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor (GLM). The year has been rife with examples that have been nominated by the GLM’s Language Police, volunteer language observers from the world over".
The Top Politically inCorrect Words and Phrases for 2006:
1. Macaca – Might have changed the political balance of the US Senate, since George Allen’s (R-VA) utterance (which is an offensive slang term for Indians of the Sub-continent in the West Indies) surely has impacted his election bid.
2. Global Warming Denier – Since there are those who now believe that climate changed has moved from scientific theory to dogma; there are now proposal that ‘global warming deniers’ be treated the same as ‘holocaust deniers:’ professional ostracism, belittlement, ridicule and, even, jail.
3. Herstory for History – ‘Herstory’ again attempts to take the male element out of ‘HIS story’. Though there are nearly 900,000 Google citations for ‘HERstory, they are all based on a mistaken assumption. When Herodotus wrote the first history, the word meant simply an ‘inquiry’.
4. Flip Chart. The term can be offensive to Filipinos, please use ‘writing block’.
5. 1a and 1b -- The headmistress of a grade school in Midlothian (Scotland) had to split a grade into two equal classes. Though the split was purely alphabetical, parents objects because those with children in '1b' feared they may be perceived as academically inferior to those in '1a'.
6. Politically Incorrect Colors -- Staff at a coffee shop in Glasgow refused to serve a customer who had ordered a 'black coffee', believing it to be ‘racist.’ He wasn’t served until he changed his order to 'coffee without milk'. Around the world we have reports of the word ‘black’ becoming emotionally charged and politically correct or incorrect depending upon one’s point of view.
7. Oriental – Asian, please. Though this is generally a purely American phenomenon. In Europe, Asians prefer the term Oriental, which literally means ‘those from the East’.
8. Menaissance – The rise of a ‘manliness’ culture or male renaissance. Replaces metrosexual, which evidently appealed to women but not men.
9. Momtini -- A Michigan mother invented the term ‘momtini’ as an act of rebellion against ‘parental correctness’. This has raised the hackles of child protection and ‘anti-alcohol’ groups.
10. “Our Mother and Father Who are in Heaven” – From a new, ‘inclusive’ Bible translation (The Bible in a More Just Language) that replaces what it believes to be “divisive” teachings of Christianity.
Bonus: Political Correctness -- 'Equality Essentials,' a 44-page training manual book called has been used for staff training courses at Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire suggests that the term Political Correctness is now politically incorrect.
We should hijack this word and change its meaning to reflect some form of integral masculinity. A man who is masculine without being a caveman, sensitive without being a wuss, intelligent without being the pocket protector type, and spiritual without resorting to dogma and tradition. A menaissance man.
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That list mashes up a lot of terms that are in no way equivalent in their offensiveness or pc value.
ReplyDelete"Macaca," for example, is racist term used by a racist in full awareness of what he was saying (even if it may sound innocuously exotic to most American ears.) "1a and 1b," on reflection, is exactly as stupid as it appears to be at first glance. The attempt to change Biblical language by modifying the Lord's prayer, without knowing any more than what that Time writer snidely insinuates, strikes me as a potentially admirable--if misguided--effort. I hardly think all ten of those belong on the same list.
Kai in NYC
Hey Kai,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree with you. The 1a and 1b thing is dumb, so is the black coffee thing. The "macaca" thing was horrible and I'm glad that idiot lost the election. But, nothing wrong with Momtini after a long day of child-rearing (not that I would know).
Lists like these are always problematic, but I as a rule dislike most attempts at political correctness. The "macaca" thing was not PC speech monitoring, it was racism.
Peace,
Bill