Brandeis University (in the United States) once ran on its website an ‘oppressive language list.’
They included words the university wanted students and staff to avoid so as to protect the feelings of the more sensitive souls around them.
The list was drawn up by students involved with the university’s Prevention, Advocacy and Resource Centre.
It would have made you very careful of your words, because it was a long list—in five different categories: Violent language; Identity-based language; Language that doesn’t say what we mean; Culturally appropriative language; and Person-first and Identity-first language.
Some of the things they wanted students to avoid struck me as pointless.
For example, under ‘Violent language’ they wanted to ban ‘Take a shot’ on the assumption that it’s a reference to gun violence.
But it is possible to ‘take a shot’ in cricket or tennis by wielding a bat or racquet not pulling a trigger!
Under ‘Identity-based language’ they wanted to ban ‘African American’ and replace it with ‘Black’—but it was only a few years ago we were told to do the exact opposite!
And some of the things they put on their list were just plain wrong.
For instance, they want to ban ‘rule of thumb’ based on the old urban myth that in England a man was allowed to beat his wife as long as the stick was no thicker than his thumb.
Untrue.
There never was any such law.
It was (as it sounds) a rough method of measurement.
They also wanted to ban the word ‘tribe’ because they claimed this was a ‘dehumanising’ word.
But the anthropologists who use it certainly don’t dehumanise.
And people who use it metaphorically (e.g., naming football supporters ‘the Tigers’ tribe’) likewise.
They also wanted to ban ‘homeless person’ and replace it with ‘person without housing’—which just proves they had a tin-ear and couldn’t recognise a badly construct phrase when they saw one.
Their whole list addressed a non-existent problem by banning unproblematic words.
When the language fascists really get going, they seem to lose their minds!
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BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
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