Oh my word...
...A while back, I heard on the news that Ireland is banning the word “brainstorming” because it may offend epileptics. But, don’t worry, they have a replacement idiom for those who might dare to brainstorm and then discuss it.... “Thought showers.” Some of you have heard this story as well and the rest of you are thinking that I must be making this up. Oh, I wish I were...it’s pretty funny until you realize that someone is serious about this. They took time out of the job that they get paid to do and they made the decision that to brainstorm was an offensive thing. Well, I submit that these people have a brain cloud and far too much spare time on their hands.
Besides, they have stopped far short of their mission. There is still the possibility that some thoughtless dietician might see fit to serve kidney beans to a dialysis patient or liver and onions to someone with sclerosis. And how dare we worry about the “legs” on our tables while so many people have casts on their own lower appendages. We should have “artichoke focal points” and “lady digits” in case an arthritic cardiac patient should read a menu. While we make those changes, we should also strike sweet onions (diabetics), Po’ Boys (welfare recipients) and jelly rolls (men with love handles) as well.
We also need to stop using terms like “Flaky Pastry Dough, that one offends me personally, “pot roast”...might give the kids ideas...and one more thing: Don’t you think that “fruit” and “nuts” are outmoded, archaic utterances? And how could we be so insensitive as to use the word “bladder” right out loud instead of “receptacle of a liquid” while so many women are buying Depends nowadays? And you know, I have hay fever, I resent being given a “nose gay”...what would a lesbian with a cold think of such a thing?
My long legs were very thin when hot pants were fashionable and I consider it an affront to hear the phrase celery stick. It takes me back to a time that I would just as soon forget. I think I should discuss this with an attorney, nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows my sorrow.
There is very little verbal territory that wouldn’t be offensive to someone, I think we should use hand signals from now on rather than to risk being attacked by daily onslaughts of such dogmatist terms as short ribs, ugly ducklings and heavy duty. Of course, be careful what letters you use, some of them may be gang signs...not to mention the FINGER!
I think things have gone a bit too far when a man can lose his job and reputation after using a term like “niggardly” simply because it SOUNDS like an offensive term. Oh, wait, the “N” word can’t be offensive, so many minorities use the word themselves. Chris Rock can say it over and over again in one evening but I would imagine that Jerry Seinfeld would have a tough time working it into a joke. So, people aren’t really censoring the word itself, they are actually just censoring who can and cannot say it with immunity.
What an interesting world it is that we live in.
Well, I hope that those Irish folks are doing well after their Thought Shower...I for one feel safer knowing that such an inflammatory word has been replaced. I’m sure that the English language is now safe and sensitive to all.
Have a lovely evening!
Meg
...A while back, I heard on the news that Ireland is banning the word “brainstorming” because it may offend epileptics. But, don’t worry, they have a replacement idiom for those who might dare to brainstorm and then discuss it.... “Thought showers.” Some of you have heard this story as well and the rest of you are thinking that I must be making this up. Oh, I wish I were...it’s pretty funny until you realize that someone is serious about this. They took time out of the job that they get paid to do and they made the decision that to brainstorm was an offensive thing. Well, I submit that these people have a brain cloud and far too much spare time on their hands.
Besides, they have stopped far short of their mission. There is still the possibility that some thoughtless dietician might see fit to serve kidney beans to a dialysis patient or liver and onions to someone with sclerosis. And how dare we worry about the “legs” on our tables while so many people have casts on their own lower appendages. We should have “artichoke focal points” and “lady digits” in case an arthritic cardiac patient should read a menu. While we make those changes, we should also strike sweet onions (diabetics), Po’ Boys (welfare recipients) and jelly rolls (men with love handles) as well.
We also need to stop using terms like “Flaky Pastry Dough, that one offends me personally, “pot roast”...might give the kids ideas...and one more thing: Don’t you think that “fruit” and “nuts” are outmoded, archaic utterances? And how could we be so insensitive as to use the word “bladder” right out loud instead of “receptacle of a liquid” while so many women are buying Depends nowadays? And you know, I have hay fever, I resent being given a “nose gay”...what would a lesbian with a cold think of such a thing?
My long legs were very thin when hot pants were fashionable and I consider it an affront to hear the phrase celery stick. It takes me back to a time that I would just as soon forget. I think I should discuss this with an attorney, nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows my sorrow.
There is very little verbal territory that wouldn’t be offensive to someone, I think we should use hand signals from now on rather than to risk being attacked by daily onslaughts of such dogmatist terms as short ribs, ugly ducklings and heavy duty. Of course, be careful what letters you use, some of them may be gang signs...not to mention the FINGER!
I think things have gone a bit too far when a man can lose his job and reputation after using a term like “niggardly” simply because it SOUNDS like an offensive term. Oh, wait, the “N” word can’t be offensive, so many minorities use the word themselves. Chris Rock can say it over and over again in one evening but I would imagine that Jerry Seinfeld would have a tough time working it into a joke. So, people aren’t really censoring the word itself, they are actually just censoring who can and cannot say it with immunity.
What an interesting world it is that we live in.
Well, I hope that those Irish folks are doing well after their Thought Shower...I for one feel safer knowing that such an inflammatory word has been replaced. I’m sure that the English language is now safe and sensitive to all.
Have a lovely evening!
Meg
posted by Meg Kelso | 4:48 PM
4 Comments:
People choose to be offended and that's their right as its my right to say what I effin like LOL.
I like to say, i am offended you are offended !
zactly
Hardly believing my Irish brethren could possibly be that uptight, I did a little research and found this term originated in Belfast Northern Ireland.
It was intended as a PC alternative, not as banning the word brainstorm.
Well I, like my Republic of Ireland relatives, look forward to the reunification of the Emerald Isle, I just figure something like this had to come from some uptight British aristocrat living in that British controlled colony. (No offense to you Lara/Kate, or the Queen of England).
Anyone whose spent any time in the Republic of Ireland will find the people just aren't that uptight.
Yep sure enough, looking a little further, I found an article in a UK newspaper, attributing "thought showers" to a UK government Teachers Training Agency who was worried that the term "brainstorming" could be offensive.
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