'Political Correctness Is The New Racism'
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Submitted by rustyc on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
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'Political Correctness Is The New Racism'
In 1991, a new term sprung, seemingly wholly formed, into the English language Political Correctness'. This phrase was to alter much of the language in the following years changing the meanings of some words and bringing new ones into circulation.
Since this term was introduced, many newspapers and individuals have devoted much attention to this topic. Their views range from mildly cynical to openly hostile, with some treating the topic as a kind of joke (one newspaper pondered whether restaurant customers could expect to be given a womenu by a waitron or waitperson). However, in the midst of these facetious remarks, there were headlines emerging which revealed the dark side that people associated with political correctness The New Ayatollahs', Politically Correct speech An Oxymoron' and The Word Police'.
In 1993, someone in Maryland, USA, noticed that the state motto fatti maschii, parole femine' (manly deeds, womanly words) was not only fatuous and odd, but also blatantly sexist. The obvious solution to this embarrassing situation would have been to change the motto. However, as it was embossed on state stationary, engraved on many monuments and had, after all, been around for a long time, the powers that be decided to change the translation instead. Now when people see fatti maschii, parole femine', they are to think, strong deeds, gentle words'. Everyone went to bed happy.
Most of the arguments against the politically correct language movement distil down to this that people with linguistically narrow views and their verbal creations are burdening the world with ludicrously sanitized neologisms that are an embarrassment to civilized discourse.
Two authors, Henry Beard and Christopher Cerf, have made much capital (in both senses of the word) by the publishing of their highly satirical Official Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook' designed to rid the...
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