State Department: 'Hold down the fort,' other common phrases could be offensive

foxnews.com ^ | 8/31/12 | FoxNews.com

[onlylewis]

Watch your mouth -- everyday phrases like "hold down the fort" and "rule of thumb" are potentially offensive bombshells. At least according to the State Department.

Chief Diversity Officer John Robinson penned a column in the department's latest edition of "State Magazine" advising readers on some rather obscure Ps and Qs.

[Forrestfire]

How about “Diversity Officer”?

[Fresh Wind]

Robinson cited the cautionary tale of Nike rolling out a "Black and Tan" sneaker...

I wonder if Duke Ellington realized how offensive he was being when he wrote "Black and Tan Fantasy"? I wonder if this Bureaucratic Blockhead ever heard of Duke Ellington?

[tophat9000]

As an amputee, Obamas “single handed” attempt to destroy the country offends me

[TigerClaws]

Possibly racist terms and phrases:

Black Ops
Black Friday
Black and blue
In the black
Blackmail

Teamwork. Implies some individuals are incapable of performing on their own.

[crosshairs]

You mean I can't say you dictate good?

[RGSpincich]

Chief Diversity Officer John Robinson

Amish, no doubt

[oh8eleven]

You know when someone has “diversity” in their title, they are getting paid money for doing nothing useful.
Back in my working days, I quickly discovered two jobs - coordinator and expeditor - were people who got paid to do some part of a job that someone else wasn't doing.
Even worse, the coordinator and expeditor usually didn't do it very well either.

[crosshairs]

and offended is according to how whatever privileged minority perceives it to further their agenda.

There. Fixed it.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Pull your head out of your a$$ has been deemed offensive to VP Biden as he just prefers it up there.

[DaveA37]

Sounds to me like demolishing the State Department might be another good place to start downsizing the government. IF all they have to do is worry about old cliche's, they need to be “let go” as Clint Eastwood stated.

[onlylewis]

In the black

The US economy doesn't have to worry about that as long as obama is in office!

But how about "down the tubes"

[greatvikingone]

His etymologies are not accurate. People will be offended only because that is their nature.

[Delhi Rebels]

If you are offended by something as simple and innocuous as ‘hold the fort’ then its your problem and not mine.

[TigerClaws]

Hoe about United States of America?

United. This implies that we are unified when in fact our strength is our diversity and separateness. United is code for “all white.”

States. This recalls the Jim Crow era and states rights which is code for the oppression of African Americans.

America. This is a racist European term offensive to indigenous peoples of the Western hemisphere.

Therefore, be careful using these terms and report any abuse to our office.

[bgill]

Much ado about nothing
Slush fund
Crime doesn’t pay
Death and taxes
There’s no such thing as a free lunch
Nest of vipers
Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas
No rest for the wicked
Birds of a feather flock together
Stupid is as stupid does
A wolf in sheep’s clothing
Monkey see, monkey do
A leopard doesn’t change his spots
Turn the other cheeck
Absolute power corrupts absolutely
White on rice
Blow smoke up your b***
Brown nose
Higher than a kite
Nine sheets to the wind
Eaten out of house and home
Pay the piper
Cickens coming home to roost
Living off the fat of the land
Money is the root of all evil
Eat, drink and be merry
Shot across the bow
This is your brains on drugs
Fish rot from the brain down
Such stuff as dreams are made of
One bad apple spoils the lot
Walk the plank
This too shall pass
Bite the dust
Get thee behind me
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out
The writing’s on the wall
Truth will out

[Fresh Wind]

Astromers are racist: Black Hole
Tool Companies are racist: Black and Decker
Band Leaders are racist: Paul Whiteman
Miners are racist: Black lung
Musicians are racist: Pianos have more white keys than black keys

[Fester Chugabrew]

Practicing civility in other cultures is not necessarily a bad thing. But it begins in the family.

[Wurlitzer]

Oxymoron: Everyone is equal and Diversity is a good thing. WHY? If everyone is equal diversity should be meaningless.

I wonder how many diversity officers are in Japan, China, Korea, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Haiti, Mexico, Egypt, Kuwait, Syria, and the list goes on and on and on.

Oh, I get it now. Diversity is only good for those countries which have a majority of evil White Christians. Those countries must alter their immigration, employment, educational policies so White Christians become a minority but only after the re-distributionist steal as much of the wealth that for some reason these evil people have been able to produce.

Stranger still is that evil White Christians are just a minority of the world’s population.

[P.O.E.]

This guy should be blackballed.

The origins of which go back to ancient Greece.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackballing

[USAF80]

How about “Diversity Officer”?

Overseer, overseer, overseer, overseer

Officer, Officer, Officer, Officer, yeah, officer from overseer

You need a little clarity? Check the similarity

The overseer rode around the plantation

The officer is off patroling all the nation

The overseer couldn't stop you what you're doing

The officer will pull you over just when he's pursuing

The overseer had the right to get ill

And if you fought back, the overseer had the right to kill

The officer has the right to arrest

And if you fight back they put a hole in your chest

Woop, they both ride horses

After 400 years, I've got no choices

Lyrics from KRS One song