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Correct language

lyledunn
I was taking a group of building service engineers through the 18th. We were discussing the use of Appendix 5. One chap was very exercised about the BA3 category which is described as utilization-capability-handicapped. He claims the latter word was exorcised from common parlance years ago and would be offensive to many. I am not that politically correct but maybe he has a valid argument,.
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    So just what definition covers the number of strokes normally taken by a golfer above par for a course?


    Don't  presume offense where none exists. Call a spade a a spade. Refuse to speak the limited language of Oceania.


    Z.
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    That was quick Z! Yes my golf handicap could do with improving but that is a different context. No one worries too much about coloured crayons but when the word "coloured" is applied to humans, it is clear that it is unacceptable!
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    It would be much more usual to use the term disabled rather than handicapped.  It's broader for one thing - handicap came to be seen as limited to obvious physical disabilities.
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    I suspect you cannot win, as language moves over time, so the new word becomes just as offensive. I see that a bit with the scouts, who as a simple example now use the word 'special' as an insult to each other  when someone is being particularly stupid ;  presumably now that children as school with problems are called 'special needs' . I imagine that will be on the ban list in a few decades.

    You only have to look at the changes to the words terrific, gay, black and  wicked over the last half century or so,  to see how this operates. I fear there is little point in getting too hung up if the intent is not malicious, it just tells you the era of the author..
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    And then there was this, from a respected organ:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7015167/Apprenticeship-quango-trials-gender-neutral-adverts-appeal-females.html


    Z.
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    John Russell:

    It would be much more usual to use the term disabled rather than handicapped.  It's broader for one thing - handicap came to be seen as limited to obvious physical disabilities.




    There is a nuanced distinction in that a disability (e.g. deafness) may give rise to a handicap (e.g. the inability to follow a conversation). However, the handicap may be overcome by the use of technology or assistance (e.g. a deaf aid or a signing interpreter).


    Perish the thought that one might be maimed and become a cripple!

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    mapj1:

    ... presumably now that children as school with problems are called 'special needs'.




    This horrid phrase, which was introduced as a euphemism, is derived from the issuing of a statement of special educational needs for the subjects.


    Whilst one is unlikely to hear the term, "retarded" these days, having suffered from "arrested development of the brain" is a condition of one of the routes to disability living allowance.


    Funny things, words!

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    It's all fashion.


    Words acceptable now will become unacceptable because of their use by prejudiced people - or should I say people of prejudice?


    It is the demonisation of words rather than the people who use them.
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    Zoomup:

    So just what definition covers the number of strokes normally taken by a golfer above par for a course?


    Don't  presume offense where none exists. Call a spade a a spade. Refuse to speak the limited language of Oceania.


    Z.




    There’s a very strong possibility of causing offence with using words such as you just have.


    Last Monday evening I went to a birthday party and saw people I had not seen for a long time, I was talking to another guy about what went on in the 1970’s and 80’s and passed comment that one of the girls in our circle of friends had met and married a particularly offensive guy.


    This guy came on a weekend away with us and returned with a very noticeable black eye as a result of being laid out with a single punch on the Saturday evening after announcing that he was a straight talking guy who “believed in calling a spade a spade” he came to surrounded by a group of people all muttering that he deserved what he had got.


    You think that is an inoffensive saying, but ever since the 1970’s I wince when I read or hear it.


    It is not particularly what is said it is the intent that matters.


    Andy 

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    Sparkingchip:




    Zoomup:

    So just what definition covers the number of strokes normally taken by a golfer above par for a course?


    Don't  presume offense where none exists. Call a spade a a spade. Refuse to speak the limited language of Oceania.


    Z.




    There’s a very strong possibility of causing offence with using words such as you just have.


    ...


    You think that is an inoffensive saying, but ever since the 1970’s I wince when I read or hear it.



    Why?


    The French call a cat a cat - is that any different? (On appelle un chat un chat.)

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