Language Police in Nova Scotia
From the
Globe and Mail:
bq.
Call me nuts, but PC language cripples us
The other day some readers took me to task for speculating that a certain prominent person had been "off his meds" when he called Olympics champion Myriam Bedard a pitiable single mother. Hurtful, stigmatizing, and discriminatory toward the mentally ill, they wrote. Shame on me. I ought to know better.
bq. I guess I ought. And now they can report me to the government of Nova Scotia, where a body known as the Anti-Stigma/Discrimination Working Group is trying to stamp out media bias toward mental illness. It is running a contest encouraging alert citizens to collect examples of such bias, and it's even offering a $2,000 reward. A partial list of biased words includes "maniac," "madman," "fruitcake," "madness," "mental hospital," "nutcase," "raving lunatic," "kooky," and "you're off your head." The word "schizophrenic" is biased when used metaphorically. Unbiased writers should not refer to mental illness as an "affliction" or call someone who has it a "victim." That might leave the impression that mental illness is a bad thing.
Sheesh. Bunch of (insert favorite non-PC derogatory term here) wankers with nothing better to do... Nanny state at it's best.
Posted by DaveH at March 23, 2004 7:03 PM