Another tale of "be careful what you wish for" for the politically correct:
Having solved all of the problems of crime, economics, education, and traffic accidents (sarcasm off), the government of my state has from time to time seen fit to spend its valuable time (and our tax dollars) to purge itself of "offensive" names of places and species. The latest purge involved the term "squaw", so we got rid of the squawfish, Squaw Mountain, etc. Years ago, the word to be eliminated (rightfully so) was "nigger". The locals had become attached to the name, "Lost Nigger Lake", having used it since the 1800's when the lake was named in honor of an African-American pioneer, his name now lost to antiquity, who had lost his way in the wilderness, and miraculously and heroically survived on the shores of said lake. They resisted the name change as long as they could, but finally relented under unimaginable pressure. You can now find, on any map of our area, "Lost Coon Lake".
Indeed. I am of an age such that the idea of censoring names, for well-meaning effect or otherwise, nauseates me. In my youth the "dreaded n-word" was in common use, but I was brought up to avoid the word by a very proper Southern grandmother (a survivor of radical Reconstruction) who insisted only white trash would say "nigger" and that no member of her family would use it. The first time she heard me use it, she washed out my mouth with laundry soap -- an experience I assure you one does not want to repeat. She even taught me an alternative "counting rhyme" to replace the ubiquitous "eeny, meeny, mynee, moe".
This is a joke, right?
I'm surprised that the Colorado town of Cripple Creek hasn't been renamed "Differently Abled Creek", "Physically Challenged Creek" or something of the sort. We still have a "Rifle" and a "Squaw Mountain", too.
LOL
ROTFL!
We vacationed in your lovely state in the summer of 2003. We stayed up in Big Sky Mountain Village. What glorious scenery. We were struck by the fact that you could have such a wide view of things. Living here in the Northeast, your view is usually obstructed by trees and low hills.