Is "politically correct" incorrect?

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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In this age of supposed enlightenment we are discarding four and five letter words like "deaf", dumb", "lame", "blind", "stupid" which have exact meanings and are familiar and are replacing them with cumbersome phrases often containing words like "challenged", totally destroying the original meaning as "challenged" is a mind set, not a condition. Let's just be correct and forget the politics and say what we mean. :lol:
 

DaSleeper

Trolling Hypocrites
May 27, 2007
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Then I gather that it would be politically "incorrect" to refer to an Atheist as someone who is Spiritually Challenged...huh?;-)
 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
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This becomes the ultimate dilemma when we decide to socially construct human behavior.
People can't say what they mean because they may offend someone. Well when we as
individuals express how we feel about anything, we are bound to offend someone in most
cases, we don't deliberately set out to do that but it is the way it is,
I think we had a more honest world when people expressed themselves without government
interference. We knew ourselves who we wanted to get to know because when people say
it like it is, we know who they really are. What is that old saying? I am opposed to what you
are saying but in a democracy I defend your right to say it. We lost that and with it a certain
measure of who we are as people.
This politically correct crap is not confined to the left or the right either. Often times we hear
people on one side or another condemning others for what they do themselves on all sides.
We should stop trying to define the symptoms of the problem and just fix the problem. Put
an end to this politically correct nonsense. People just find more creative ways to express
their feelings, they make the ambiguous, and how does than define what they mean?
All this is divisive, and makes for a watered down society. Things don't get said and done
that need saying and doing and society is often prevented from progressing to the next level
of societal evolution. I wonder am I being politically incorrect?
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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yep... like my friend going to university in the states getting a lecture for talking about one of her friends' challenges as a 'black' student. You can't say 'black' you have to say African American! "But, she's neither, she's Haitian Canadian." Political correctness to the point of erasing people's heritages.

On the flip side though, something the PC term IS a matter of precision. My friend who calls herself vision impaired for example. yes, she's legally blind, you could call her blind, but, she's not blind, she still sees enough shadow to navigate through life minus a cane or a helper dog.
 

Machjo

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Oct 19, 2004
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yep... like my friend going to university in the states getting a lecture for talking about one of her friends' challenges as a 'black' student. You can't say 'black' you have to say African American! "But, she's neither, she's Haitian Canadian." Political correctness to the point of erasing people's heritages.

On the flip side though, something the PC term IS a matter of precision. My friend who calls herself vision impaired for example. yes, she's legally blind, you could call her blind, but, she's not blind, she still sees enough shadow to navigate through life minus a cane or a helper dog.

How much more confusing can it get? At one point, 'negro' was perfectly acceptable (even as a self-identifyer), and generally still is within historical-litrary contexts. Even 'nigger' was acceptable among many Englishman at one point (though I'm not aware of any blacks every using it as a self-identifyer). Then 'Black' came to the fore (African American being too narrow on an international stage). And now 'Black isn't acceptable either? We'll run out of words soon enough.
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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The biggest factor is probably that of how it's spoken to people. If you grow up with people hatefully calling you black, you're going to hate the term, and push to see it changed, even if it means you'd rather be called the term your grandparents or parents grew up hating. If you grow up hearing the term retarded, gay, dumb, etc., used as insults, you're not going to want them used to label you. Conversely, if someone does use a term you hate, there is usually an ability to tell whether they mean it as an offense or simply as a term.
 

Unforgiven

Force majeure
May 28, 2007
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What do you think politically correct means? Should we accept politicians calling first nations drunk indians that just can't get it together? Maybe Karrie and the few other women posting should be howled down and told to get back in the kitchen and start minding their babies instead of messing with all this infidelity online here. Porchmonkeys gangbangin the cause of all the crime and the god damn hebs trying to own everything that isn't nailed to a cross?

Ok JLM, you're old and useless, tell me where do you think our white politicians should start in getting rid of this PC crap?
 

lone wolf

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Nov 25, 2006
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The biggest factor is probably that of how it's spoken to people. If you grow up with people hatefully calling you black, you're going to hate the term, and push to see it changed, even if it means you'd rather be called the term your grandparents or parents grew up hating. If you grow up hearing the term retarded, gay, dumb, etc., used as insults, you're not going to want them used to label you. Conversely, if someone does use a term you hate, there is usually an ability to tell whether they mean it as an offense or simply as a term.
Tact, diplomacy - or good old-fashioned manners.... Maybe if folks remembered 'em, they wouldn't have PC legislation handcuffing just plain truths now.
 

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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Unforgiven; Ok JLM said:
Yep, by the calendar, but the latter doesn't necessarily follow the former. At least the taxman doesn't seem to think so. :lol:Is it up to white politicians to get rid of it? It should start with the common folk.
 

Unforgiven

Force majeure
May 28, 2007
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Yep, by the calendar, but the latter doesn't necessarily follow the former. At least the taxman doesn't seem to think so. :lol:Is it up to white politicians to get rid of it? It should start with the common folk.

Well who the hell do you think Political Correctness is directed at? Common folk? Who do you think uses political correctness? Or are you under the assumption that if you act like an ass, that others shouldn't call you on it?
 

Ron in Regina

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Apr 9, 2008
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How much more confusing can it get? At one point, 'negro' was perfectly acceptable (even as a self-identifyer), and generally still is within historical-litrary contexts. Even 'nigger' was acceptable among many Englishman at one point (though I'm not aware of any blacks every using it as a self-identifyer). Then 'Black' came to the fore (African American being too narrow on an international stage). And now 'Black isn't acceptable either? We'll run out of words soon enough.


"Negro" isn't acceptabe now? Didn't know that, to be perfectly honest...Is "Caucasian" still OK?
It does have the word "Asian" in it....and thus the question, "Is Asian" still OK? This is confusing.

I've used the word "Negro" several times a couple of weeks back without knowing, in a bar, while
trying to stumble through drink orders in my very broken Spanish (Is "Spanish" still OK?) while
try'n to get a "Dark Rum & Water" (Is "Dark" still OK?).
 

JLM

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Well who the hell do you think Political Correctness is directed at? Common folk? Who do you think uses political correctness? Or are you under the assumption that if you act like an ass, that others shouldn't call you on it?

You're the only one who is acting like an ass. :smile:
 

taxslave

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Nov 25, 2008
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The term the PC crowd out here likes is "special needs" which leaves a rather large gap when someone tells you they have a special needs customer. A blind person would most likely be PO if you were to bring a wheel chair. Probably so would a deaf person.
 

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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The term the PC crowd out here likes is "special needs" which leaves a rather large gap when someone tells you they have a special needs customer. A blind person would most likely be PO if you were to bring a wheel chair. Probably so would a deaf person.

No doubt it's a very stupid term. A one armed man went looking for a job and the prospective boss told him he wouldn't hire him because he was handicapped. The applicant told him "I'm not handicapped, you are the one who is handicapped". He asked how that could be. The applicant challenged him to tie his shoe laces with one arm tied behind his back. Apparently he got the job.
 

eh1eh

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Aug 31, 2006
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"Negro" isn't acceptable now? Didn't know that, to be perfectly honest...Is "Caucasian" still OK?
It does have the word "Asian" in it....and thus the question, "Is Asian" still OK? This is confusing.

I've used the word "Negro" several times a couple of weeks back without knowing, in a bar, while
trying to stumble through drink orders in my very broken Spanish (Is "Spanish" still OK?) while
try'n to get a "Dark Rum & Water" (Is "Dark" still OK?).

Ya, it's hard to keep up. I can't see what is wrong with Negro as it's a descriptor just like Caucasian or Asian although I think sticking to black is more generic. I have worked all over Toronto and when you talk to people of every colour and ethnicity you can't always tell who is who. I've found you can call them anything you want if you are using it as a descriptor in a respectful way. I frequently referred to people in such a manor as, "That black guy in shipping told me..." or, "the Asian fellow with the glasses..." you get the idea. Never had a problem in the 15 years I was trucking there.
I like to refer to myself as 'whitey'. Hey if the blacks can use nigger then fair's fair.
 

JLM

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It's a hell of a lot easier to be sure of a guy being "black" than it is to be sure of him being "African". (unless of course you are visually challenged). :lol:
 

Cannuck

Time Out
Feb 2, 2006
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It's a hell of a lot easier to be sure of a guy being "black" than it is to be sure of him being "African". (unless of course you are visually challenged). :lol:

Which guy is African?