Words Hurt
Los Angeles (AP) The ACLU, in a
press release issued on Tuesday, said that it had just completed its first
attempt at revising the English language dictionary.
Ms.Guided, spokesperson for the ACLU said, "We wanted to show the American people that speech need not be offensive..." she continued, "...this is a guide that we hope all Americans will learn from and follow", she said.
When questioned further, Ms. Guided stated, "We are not trying to re-write the English language, just to offer suggestions as to how we can change our speech patterns so as not to be offensive. After all", she finished, "we don't want peoples freedom of speech to be violated, we just think that certain words are offensive and think that they should be removed from our language."
Certain words that were specifically noted by Ms Guided include, "black", "white", "illegal" and "terrorist".
These words are defined as:
Black:
| 1.Being of the color black, producing or reflecting comparatively little light and having no predominant hue. |
| 2.Having little or no light: a black, moonless night. |
| 3. Formerly an ethnic description considered to be bad form and impolite.see African-American. |
| 4. Formerly a slight pertaining to a persons honor or evil. see white. |
White:
| 1. The achromatic color of maximum lightness; the color of objects that reflect nearly all light of all visible wavelengths; the complement or antagonist of black, the other extreme of the neutral gray series. Although typically a response to maximum stimulation of the retina, the perception of white appears always to depend on contrast. |
| 2.The white or nearly white part. |
| 3. Evil doers. |
Illegal:
| 1. Prohibited by law. |
| 2. Prohibited by official rules: an illegal pass in football. |
| 3. Undocumented or with out legal papers: an illegal alien. see Undocumented. |
Terrorist:
| 1. One that engages in acts or an act of terrorism.ie: The Bush Administration. |
| 2. A freedom fighter. |
| 3. One who fights for a cause against impossible odds. see Hero. |
In other cases words were left undefined with only a brief chastisement as to the use of the word as rude, ignorant and insensitive.
Interestingly, the word "niggardly" was left in with no definition or suggestion for an alternate word to use in its place. Ironically, however, it was blacked out.
