Brandeis University in Massachusetts has done it
again. The school’s Prevention, Advocacy and Resource Center (PARC) had already
compiled a list of “oppressive” words and phrases with accompanying suggested
alternatives earlier this year. Now the PARC people have added to the list.
Given it a verbal booster shot if you will.
The original list contained such potentially
offensive terms as “killing it,” “take a shot at,” and the previously popular
progressive cautionary phrase “trigger warning.” All of these were, of course,
no longer acceptable because of their connotation with firearms.
The ever-vigilant students comprising PARC recently
added over a dozen new terms and cliches to the verboten list, according
to the New York Post. Exciting new additions include “I’m so OCD” and “whipped into shape.” PARC’s suggested
alternative to the former is “I’m very organized, detail oriented.” As for the
latter, which it frets could evoke “imagery of enslavement and torture,” we are
encouraged to instead say “organize,” “spruce up,” or “put in order.”
Then there are phrases which allegedly “normalize
violence against animals,” such as “more than one way to skin a cat,” “killing
two birds with one stone” and “beating a dead horse.” PARC wants everyone to
instead employ “multiple ways to accomplish the task,” “feeding two birds with
one seed” and “refusing to let something go.” When it comes to needlessly
scrubbing language, it seems PARC is beating a dead horse refusing to
let something go. “Feeding two birds with one seed” actually made me throw up a
little in my mouth.
“Handicapped space” is now also to be cancelled, as
it has been lumped in with terms that “can contribute to stigmas about and
trivializes the experiences of people living with disabilities, mental health
conditions, and more.” Apparently, one should also avoid “committed suicide,”
as this makes a value judgment regarding “suicidality.” Huh? Perhaps in place
of “committed suicide” we should say “fatally challenged his own conception of
consciousness?”
Part of PARC’s list
is titled “Language That Doesn’t Say What We Mean,” an entry which encourages
students “to be transparent” about what they are saying. For example, saying “everything
going on right now” is deemed too vague. Students are urged to be more specific
and to mention things like “police brutality,” “protests,” or “BLM.” Or, might
I suggest, “the stunning level of obfuscation and prevarication now being
perpetrated by the mainstream media, the Biden administration, and academic
entities like PARC.” A little lengthy, but has a nice ring to it, no?
PARC’s
website notes that the naughty terms list “will grow and change all the time.”
Much like advice from Dr. Fauci.
No comments:
Post a Comment