Twists and turns on the road to enlightenment – The Kingston Whig-Standard

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We are frequently asked to go to nonsensical lengths nowadays so as not to offend others with the words we use in everyday conversation and in our writing. New words and phrases are added to our vocabulary almost everyday to reflect a more politically correct (PC) attitude. And occasionally (but not always) these changes are for the better.

For example, to acknowledge both men and women in their ranks, firemen and policemen are now more properly known as firefighters and police officers. But all too often modifications made in the name of political correctness do nothing but suck the very life out of our precious language. Many of the new PC expressions are awkward euphemisms for the more precise words and phrases they have replaced, thereby marginalizing those words.

For example, the word bum has been replaced by the term, homeless person. God forbid we refer to someone as a bum implying that person is a freeloader, a deadbeat, or too lazy to work for a living. But calling him a homeless person removes that stigma while suggesting he would be just like one of us if only social services would give him a house. Come to think of it homelessness might also be referred to as mortgage-free living.

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Meanwhile, it seems the word fairy has been deemed too homophobic. Fortunately, the ever-imaginative language police hit upon the much more acceptable phrase petite airborne humanoid which possesses magical powers while further recommending the word fairy be avoided when referring to these mythical beings no matter how gay they may appear.

Accordingly, the word fat might soon be replaced with the phrase enlarged physical condition caused by a completely natural, genetically-induced hormone imbalance. This is not only difficult to say it is almost impossible to remember. So its quite likely most people will not use it at all. It seems the problem with the term fat is that it is all altogether too explicit, to wit, pinpointing the reason that an obese persons skin appears so swollen is due to a buildup of large amounts of, well, fat.

A secretary is now called an Administrative Assistant. Its interesting to note that the word secretary comes from the Latin, secretarius, meaning confidential officer which for some mysterious reason is now considered a disparaging designation. A swamp is now known as a wetland. Swamps, you see, are full of horrible things like alligators, insects and all sorts of disease. Lets face it; if various environmental groups went around urging people to Save The Swamps we would think they were bonkers. Come to think of it, this might be the very reason the designation rainforest has replaced the word jungle.

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Another thing: we dont argue any more, we share feelings. The term deferred success has replaced the word failure. A sex-change is now defined as gender re-assignment. The expression food insecurity has replaced the word hunger. If something is false it is now seemingly not entirely correct and if you are dead you are metabolically different.

Needless to say, our ability to communicate clearly is eroding with many of these ambiguous politically correct phrases. Our conversations today frequently call for a meticulous selection of neutral nouns, peaceful pronouns, and accommodating adjectives. I believe this approach is all too often misguided. To which the language-police might reply, Its not misguided, Terry. Its simply differently logical.

God help us.

Terry serves up a little food-for-thought each and every week and welcomes your comments:countrysunshine@xplornet.ca

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Twists and turns on the road to enlightenment - The Kingston Whig-Standard