Posted on 12/28/2020 5:32:23 AM PST by Red Badger
It seems like, year after year, the number of words we Americans are allowed to say continues to shrink.
That trend is particularly evident on college campuses, where almost once a month there’s a newly deemed offensive or non-inclusive word students and faculty are encouraged to avoid.
Over the last 12 months The College Fix has chronicled several examples, striving to keep tabs on the ever-expanding list of verboten words and phrases, according to the campus PC police.
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Low-hanging fruit:
At an event led by Elgin Community College’s Multicultural and Global Initiatives Committee, it was explained that the term reminds people of color of Billie Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit.” In the song, released in the 1950s, Holiday compares the bodies of lynching victims to fruit hanging from trees.
Grandfathering:
The Wake County Public School system in North Carolina no longer will use “grandfathering” because of the word’s racist background. All it took was a complaint from just one parent.
Picnic:
The University of Michigan’s Information and Technology Service’s “Words Matter Task Force” has decided the word picnic should be avoided. It’s unclear why. In IT parlance, picnic is an acronym for “Problem in Chair, Not In Computer.”
Brown bag:
This is another one courtesy of the University of Michigan’s Information and Technology Service’s “Words Matter Task Force.” The suggested alternative? “Lunch and learn.” One can only assume this one refers to a class-struggle of some sort, but it’s hard to truly understand what goes on in the mind of leftists.
Brother/sister:
Thanks to the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s “Evolving World of Inclusive Language” event, we now know the terms brothers and sisters are offensive. Presenter Ever Hanna, “who identifies as a trans and non-binary person, provided examples of how gendered language, such as sister and brother, can exclude people because it is so entrenched in binary language norms,” according to the university’s website.
Expectant mothers:
Did you hear? Harvard Medical School has begun calling expectant mothers “birthing people” to be more inclusive of, well — let’s see. Men who give birth?
Snowflake:
Yes, Portland State University considers the slang term “snowflake” a potential form of “harassment and intimation.”
Stay tuned for what comes next year. 2021 is sure to bring more word shaming from the left, unfortunately.
Check the etymology of the word...."the word picnic derives from the 17th century French word “pique-nique,” a term used to describe a social gathering in which attendees each contributed with a portion of food or another useful item".
I don't think there were any digital computers around in the 17th century.
> the campus PC police <
I sure wish people would stop using that phrase (seriously). It’s nowhere near descriptive enough. The correct term should be “campus PC Gestapo”.
If the PC folks want to act like fascists, let’s brand them that way.
“Men who give birth.” Physically impossible. Only women can give birth. The exception is a mentally ill woman who thinks she is a man can also give birth. Think Ellen Page.
So I use normal English, like I learned growing up.
My brother and I decided to go on a picnic with our brown bag lunches while the University for the Terminally Twitty was on break.
To choose one of these idiotic determinations - can someone explain to me how “grandfathering” is possibly racist?! I think of it more as a term for allowing something to continue which predates a law/ordinance making that conduct improper now. A house that doesn’t meet current zoning rules or building code but did when it was built. That sort of thing.
“Low hanging fruit” reminds people of a Billie Holiday song involving lynching?! GTFO of here!
Hope y’all invited your grandfather...................
You probably couldn’t find 2 people on that entire campus that even knows who Billie Holiday was much less ever heard that song......................
Picnic = “Problem in Chair, Not In Computer.”
LOLOLOLOL! I’m going to use that now.
I had NEVER heard of it before now!........................
I’m 41 and don’t know who Billie Holiday is.
I will use every one of these words and phrases more liberally and exclusively than all others.
Wow. Et tu, UMBC?
Not surprising. She wasn’t even that well known by the general public when she was alive, unless you were a jazz aficionado............😎
I always heard it was an ID ten T error... ID10T
You are correct! They are the language Gestapo. It would be funny if it wasn’t so appalling.
That acronym goes back to at least WWII military jargon!...............😁
Then I most certainly hope that the song, itself, is likewise prohibited!
Regards,
I agree, all those words and phrases should be blacklisted.
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