Boys and Girls,
I have been working on other things and have a thought that I consider worth playing with. Let's see if I can make it make sense here and go forth.
Related to some training I have been doing in the last couple of years, there are two buzzwords that have brought me near constant amusement, "politically correct" and "inclusive language". If you already understand those concepts, please skip the next paragraph. If you do not, please continue reading what follows in its entirety.
In my estimation, part of PC is not using words because they may be offensive. A brief disclaimer, I am not arguing for or supporting any of these things as being actually offensive or reasonable, only that not using them or being discouraged from their use amuses me. For instance, I worked with a 100 level intro course and was told to call the people in the class "students" not "kids". Around here, the places people who got to school live in on campus are called "residence life halls" not "dorms". As a man, I cannot talk effectively about women's rights, a penis eliminates all eligibility.
Some of this I agree with, calling something gay because it does not fit with your value set, is not definitionally consistent and is, in my opinion, just weak. The other day, I called something retarded, an elevator in which I pushed the button and it went to a different floor that it should have not gone to based on my input and normal function. Upon my utterance, a woman behind me corrected me and informed me thats not OK. I replied that this behavior was clearly the manifestation of a cognitive malfunction, the elevator was certainly being retarded.
So, what words like that do you use reliably and effectively while what others are you scolded for and feel are actually misplaced?
Thanks.