Putting A Bow On Manure Doesn't Make It Smell Like A Rose

Am I the only one that notices the breezes previously blown up our posteriors are now reaching beyond hurricane force strength?

The amount of placating language that is used on society seems to be increasing along with the people who seem to eat it up like candy on Christmas... I can not believe that more people fall for it, than don't.

I refuse to believe it.

Although putting a bow on bullshnittle is not new, it is certainly gaining momentum. The first time I recall REALLY hearing something that made me wonder "How stupid do they think we are?" was the infamous Obama change from "Global War On Terror" to "Overseas Contingency Operations".

www.reportonamerica.com...

I thought to myself... Self - That sure did make that phrase sound more pleasurable and a lot less violent. There is no way people will fall for that. Some did.

Then came the change of "Terrorist Attack" to "Man-Mad Disasters"... Really? C'mon! I guess it is not AS bad to die from a "man-made disaster" as a terrorist attack. We are now so politically correct, that we can't call a spade a spade. (And I can't write that sentence without specifically stating that it is not intended to be racist. Go figure.)

Don't hurt the terrorist's feelings. Foriegn or domestic... If your crime causes terror, guess what?

Could it get more PC? Could we come up with any more creative euphemisms?

Absolutely...

Even the Taliban have picked up our bad habits. Nothing like trying to improve your self image through pretty, contrived, misleading terms.

Let's try

"Cephalic Attrition"

At worst this sounds like a food bourne illness. But not at all like what it really means...

"Beheading"

Why put another name on it? Does it make it less palatable? Does it mean that your head being removed from your neck is now less painful and gruesome?

"Flayings"

A barbarously exotic style of execution that has been popular in this part of the world since before the time of Alexander.

They are now known as:

"Unsolicited Epidermal Reconfigurations."

Except for the "UN" part, this almost sounds like an elective plastic surgery operation.

Why do the Taliban care, you ask?

A Taliban spokesman reached in Pakistan said that the new phrasing was being implemented as a way of eliminating the negative associations triggered by more graphic terminology. "The term 'beheading' has a quasi-medieval undertone that we're trying to get away from," he explained. "The term 'cephalic attrition' brings the Taliban into the 21st century. It's not that we disapprove of beheadings; it's just that the word no longer meshes with the zeitgeist of the era. This is the same reason we have replaced the term 'jihad' with 'booka-bonga-bippo,' which has a more zesty, urban, youthful, 'now' feel. When you're recruiting teenagers to your movement, you don't want them to feel that going on jihad won't leave any time for youthful hijinks."

Ah yes... Recruiting.

Who else is jumping on this bandwagon?

Darfur...

"Ethnic Cleansing"

How in the name of hades do you make that disgusting term more appetizing? One heck of an imagination and a gift for BS.

The new and improved term?

"Unconditional Demographic Redeployment."

That sounds like something we would come up with.

"Genocide"

Is replaced with..

"Maximum-Intensity Racial Profiling."

Why?

"We've got problems here, sure, just like any other society," explains a high-ranking Sudanese official. "But we're not talking about Armenia 1915. We're not talking about the Holocaust. The Eurocentric term 'genocide' gives people the wrong idea. And it really hurts tourism."

We wouldn't want that pesky truth ruining the tourist trade.

North Korea used a little imagination as well.

"Offshore Nuclear Test"

Traded in for a newer, shinier title...

"Intra-Horizontal Aqua-Aeonic Degradation Simulations."

Sounds more like a Thomas Kinkade painting doesn't it?

online.wsj.com...

This is so far out of control it's ridiculous IMO. We are scared to discuss things we should discuss because it wouldn't be politically correct to do so.

This definitely reminds me of "Orwellian Doublespeak" explained in the book 1984. An excellent read still today.

When PC came about it did change some things for the better. But neither the colorful euphemisms or polite, correct speech are accidental or done for the main benefit of our society as far as I am concerned.

If we change the language we think in, the language we use will effect change in how we think. This will have a beneficial effect on the society as it will be a start towards removing racism and sexism from the society.

If using specific terms can change how we think, then it is not out of the realm of possibility that the words we hear change the way we think as well.

www.ucc.asn.au...

Eliminating racism and sexism is a noble, great thing to do for sure. But in my experience pc talk isn't generally used or accepted by the folks who could reap the most benefit from it. So that point is pretty moot.

The main reason for these vocabulary/language usages I believe, is to placate people. Put them at ease with flowery words, and deceive folks into thinking something isn't "quite that bad". And I know A LOT of people who buy into this unfortunately.

Any further good that could have come from these things disappeared simply because many people became annoyed with the lengths it was getting carried to.

It has become a game to come up with the most off the wall mock terms one can think of.

"Horizontally Challenged" for overweight people.

"Pre-Loved" I saw on tv the other night for a rescue animal shelter adoption commercial.

"Pre-Owned" Because "used" just doesn't cut it anymore.

"Vertically Challenged" For short folks.

The list could go on and on. I don't know whether I/we should be offended, angry, laugh, or all of the above simply because our "higher ups" think we as a society are that ignorant.

Either way, I am getting mighty sick of hearing the unadulterated tripe that is being served on a daily basis with the expectation that we will be frothing at the mouth to buy into it.

If this is so obvious to a lot of us here, then why do so many in our society accept it as gospel so readily?

Have we turned into bleating sheep in the government's eyes, or have we as a whole just given up on being told the ugly truth because we prefer the prettier explanations?

LOL, I thought your quoted snippets on your OP looked and read like they were from the Onion news website. I agree that being politically correct is pure bs. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and A few other famous people played parts that we envied for on pure and simple reason...... Its because they would call it how they seen it and weren't afraid to speak their minds. I do it everyday but I feel too many people are to anti confrontational. It is almost as if people forgot that we have to have proverbial balls in order to get a clear, rational and simple point across. Lawyers and judges use semantics and complicated language so the lay man ca not understand the intristic nature of the law to keep the lay man at bay. Essentially that is exactly what being politically correct does to the common people. It is like telling bed time stories to kids. If you tell a really captivating story to kids they'll want to stay awake but if you confuse them and talk in a nonexciting way then they'll get disenfranchised and they'll fall asleep. What is more likely to get you to call to arms, Mechanized euthanasia or beheading with a guillotine???? It is a game of semantics and I personally am more frightened by the guy that sits back and doesn't say anything than the conman that is bolstering my ears with fluffy intricate words to lift my hands to the sky while he is giving me the reach around grabbing my wallet. S&F

reply to post by agentblue


Excellent points all around!

Semantics is certainly not a game I like to play. My grandfather used to say "Don't piss down my back and tell me that it's raining". The more of this stuff I see/hear, the more I appreciate that remark.