Political Correctness Examples - 2024
Published by Campbell M Gold in Misc · Tuesday 27 Aug 2024
Tags: Examples, Political, Correctness, 2024, Language, Behaviour, Cultural, Sensitivity, Babblespeak, Buzz, Phrases, Jargon
Tags: Examples, Political, Correctness, 2024, Language, Behaviour, Cultural, Sensitivity, Babblespeak, Buzz, Phrases, Jargon
Examples of Political Correctness - 2024
Following are examples of areas, words, babblespeak, buzz-phrases, and jargon related to political correctness in 2024:
Areas of Political Correctness
Inclusive Language
- There is a strong emphasis on using inclusive and respectful language for all gender identities. For instance, using "they/them" pronouns as a default in discussions to avoid assuming gender.
- Films and television shows are increasingly scrutinised for cultural representation. Productions are more likely to cast actors authentically represent the characters' backgrounds to avoid cultural appropriation.
- Educational institutions and online platforms often provide trigger warnings for content that may evoke strong emotional responses, particularly regarding topics like trauma, violence, or discrimination.
- Companies are implementing hiring practices that prioritize diversity and inclusion, aiming to create a workforce that reflects a variety of backgrounds and experiences.
- Platforms enforce stricter guidelines against hate speech and misinformation, promoting a culture of accountability for users' posts and comments.
- Discussions around political correctness often intersect with debates on free speech, with some arguing that it can stifle legitimate debate and expression, while others see it as a necessary measure to protect marginalized voices.
- Public figures and politicians are increasingly held accountable for their language and actions, focusing on avoiding offensive remarks that could perpetuate stereotypes or discrimination.
- Many organisations are adopting comprehensive diversity and inclusion training programs to educate employees about the importance of political correctness and respectful communication.
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Remember that controlling "language" and "meanings" is crucial in a totalitarian system.
- Actress - Actor
- Best man for the job - Best person for the job
- Bisexual prostitute - Equal opportunity prostitute
- Black sheep - Outcast
- Blackboard - Chalkboard
- Blacklisted - Banned
- Blackmail - Extortion
- Bribe - Public service bonus
- Broken Home - Dysfunctional family
- Businessman - Businessperson
- Caretaker - Site engineer
- Chairman - Chairperson / Chair
- Christian name - Forename
- Christmas - Winter Festival
- Crime rate - Street activity index
- Criminal - Behaviourally challenged
- Deaf - Hearing impaired
- Dictator - Leader who refuses to obey the UK government
- Disease - Disorder
- Dishonest - Ethically disorientated
- Drunk - Inebriated / chemically inconvenienced
- Dustbin Man - Sanitation Engineer
- Dustman - Sanitation Engineer
- Failure - Non-traditional success
- Fascist - Someone who disagrees with the far-left
- Fat - Metabolic over-achiever
- Fireman - Firefighter
- Flip chart - Easel (Flip is a derogatory word for Filipinos)
- Forefathers - Ancestors
- Foreign food - Ethnic cuisine
- Ghetto - Economically deprived area
- Global warming - Climate change
- Homeless - Outdoor urban dwellers
- Homosexual - Gay
- Housewife - Domestic engineer
- Husband - Partner
- Illegal aliens - Undocumented migrants
- Illegal asylum seeker - Asylum seeker
- Illegal immigrant - Irregular immigrant / undocumented worker
- Illegal subletting - Irregular subletting
- Illegal voter - Undocumented voter
- Immigrant - Newcomer
- Immigrants - Labour supporters
- Insane - Reality challenged
- Insult - Emotional rape
- Job losses - Job restructuring
- Jungle - Rain forest
- Lazy - Motivationally deficient
- Left wing riot - Protest
- Left wing protest - Riot
- Lies - Alternative facts
- Lying - Economical with the truth
- Man in the street - Average person
- Manageress - Manager
- Manhole - Utility hole
- Mankind - Humanity
- Man-made - Artificial
- Manpower - Human resources
- Merry Christmas - Season’s Greetings
- Mexican - Hispanic
- Murder - Unauthorised termination of life
- Natural disaster - Global warming incident
- Nazi - Someone who disagrees with the far-left
- Newspeak - a form of English controlled by the state to corrupt happiness and free thought
- Obese - Metabolic over-achiever / super-achiever
- Patriot - Troublemaker / pest / nuisance / agitator
- Perverted - Sexually dysfunctional
- Plastic surgery - Cosmetic surgery
- Poor - Economically marginalised
- Postman - Mail carrier
- Preferential treatment - Affirmative action
- Printing money - Quantitative easing
- Promiscuous - Sex addict
- Prostitute - Sex worker / Sex care provider
- Racist - Someone who disagrees with the far-left
- Rational fear - Phobia
- Regime - Government that refuses to obey UK government
- Right wing protest - Riot
- Right wing Riot - Protest
- Right-hand man - Chief assistant
- Robbery - Wealth redistribution
- Sex change - Gender reassignment
- Shoplifting - Irregular shopping
- Slum area - Economically deprived area
- Smelly - Nasally disturbing
- Spinster - Bachelorette
- Sportsmanship - Fairness
- Steward - Flight attendant
- Stewardess - Flight attendant
- Stupid - Intellectually impaired / Unschooled
- Tax man - Tax officer
- Terrorist - Freedom fighter / rebel / protester / insurgent
- Tramp - Homeless person
- Tyrant - Leader who refuses to obey the UK government
- Ugly - Visually unfavourable
- Uneducated - Unschooled / Lacking a formal education
- Unemployed - Economically inactive
- Unemployed - Unintentionally at leisure / non-waged
- Vomiting - Unplanned re-examination of recent food choices
- Waitress - Server
- Wanted criminal - Person of interest
- White lie - Lie
- Wife - Partner
- Workmanlike - Efficient
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PC/HR/Babblespeak Words and Buzz-Phrases with Double Meaning
These are double-meaning PC/HR/Babblespeak-Buzz/Jargon phrases:
- As we speak - Your boss knows something that’s going on real-time, but no one told you about it and you really wish they had.
- At the end of the day - I don’t care about the rest of this discussion other than what’s coming after this sentence.
- Chuck will be having a 360 review - Chuck will be having a bad day. Everyone who’s ever spoken with Chuck will now happily vent.
- Customer-centric - A popular term because it makes people sound smart and caring. Plus, there’s alliteration in there.
- Ecosystem - Means "works together" - but if you use it, it’ll seem like you’re part of the technorati or work for a Unicorn (oh, no, another!). Also, it is highly irritating. (Unicorn startups are private companies with a valuation of at least $1b (c.£756.229m). Aileen Lee, Founder of Cowboy Ventures, first coined the term in 2013 in her article "Welcome to the Unicorn Club: Learning from Billion-Dollar Startups." Such businesses were classified as "unicorns" due to the scarcity of privately-held startups achieving this billion-dollar valuation.)
- Emily will take the lead on this - Emily’s in charge, not you, but nice try.
- Give you a heads up - Your colleague is going to give you a warning of something big and nasty.
- Make it disruptive - It better be BIG, and make us money, fast.
- Our lines were crossed - You didn’t listen and I’m right.
- Start building consensus - Someone around you is not happy that you didn’t include them in your idea, which, unfortunately, is going nowhere. But this is a gentle way of saying, "Hey, ask around - and good luck with that!"
- Take that off-line - Please shut up; you’ve embarrassed me, in public, and will pay later, in private.
- There’s low-hanging fruit - Someone is getting lax and not paying attention to obvious opportunities… Ahem!
- They were first-to-market - Which your company wasn’t; and your boss can’t change. By the way, get to work!
- They’re early adopters - Someone beat your department or company to the punch. Do NOT speak highly of the early adopter around a Terrible Office Tyrant (TOT) boss, unless you already have a job offer.
- We must move the needle - Keep your ears peeled for bad revenues and expect to be needled.
- We need a Best Practices program - Your work is "under par." Immediately start copying what bigger players do and produce reams of "Best Practices" manuals. Tic tock!
- We’re working in silos here - You're working in a silo here; play nicely with others, because they’re not happy that your silo is killing it (oh, did it again!) - (Silos (based on farm silos) at work mean teams operate in relative isolation to one another. Little effort is made to collaborate or communicate, leading to misaligned priorities, redundant or duplicative work, mistrust, power struggles, and a decrease in overall team effectiveness.)
- We're sticking to our core competency - We poked around and have proven ourselves incompetent in other areas.
- You’ll be able to focus on a critical area for us - You’ve being demoted, but in the most flattering manner possible!
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PC/HR/Babblespeak Terms with Double Meanings
These are double-meaning PC/HR/Babblespeak-Buzz/Jargon words and phrases:
- Bandwidth - What your boss thinks you have enough of to complete a new project and they don’t.
- Core competency - Your firm may be closing several divisions.
- Co-sourcing - You have a 50/50 chance for a future promotion.
- Downsizing - Firing people.
- In-sourcing - You have a better than 50 percent chance for a promotion.
- Leverage synergies - Downsizing on its way after a planned merger. Update your resume.
- Matrix structure - You work for multiple bosses, but will act as if each one is your only boss - and please everyone at the same time. "Easily" doable.
- Mission critical - Focus on this now, because everything else that was said moments ago is now completely meaningless.
- Multi-tasking - Produce more work and faster!
- Negative growth - Oxymoron meaning "losing money," but which sounds so much better in annual reports and presentations, because it does have the word "growth" in it.
- Next generation - A way to sound hip about the future of your industry and appear that you're on the cutting edge, even though you could fall off.
- One-off - A rare, one-time event, like a "Good job!" scribble from your manager.
- Outsourcing - Start looking for a job.
- Paradigm shift - Your firm may be closing a division.
- Ping - A way your colleague can feel cool, instead of the nearly extinct term, "contact."
- Plate’s full - Someone else’s work is coming your way. Deep breathing.
- Push-back - The instant gratification that former employees got by saying "no" to a boss.
- Results-driven - Senior management wants you to work harder.
- Revisit - A politically correct way of saying. "Wonderful… let’s put this off… like forever! Next subject?"
- Right-sizing - Firing people with a strategic ring to it.
- Risk averse - A term that means you’re too chicken, occasionally used by managers who are the only ones allowed to be chicken.
- Strategic fit - Your firm was failing at something, and the hope is that the new corporate partner will save the company from collapse.
- Sweet spot - A special target market of the company, for which you’re now expected to live for.
- Take-away - What you learned from your unforgettable mistake, so you will never mess up again.
- Thought leader - What you should consider calling your boss if you’re preparing to ask for a raise.
- We - You
- We need to be lean and mean - Do NOT ask for vacation time, or anything else for that matter!
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PC/HR/Babblespeak Words and Phrases, Double Meanings Without Buzzwords
These are double-meaning PC/HR/Babblespeak-Buzz/Jargon phrases without any real refinement to them:
- Be patient - A way for colleagues to put you off until you believe you are an impatient person.
- Business is really slow this year - You’re not getting a raise.
- Employee of the Year - Someone who knows how to flatter your senior managers and offend the least amount of them.
- First, let me say, you do a great job…- Your boss is about to chastise you. Brace yourself!
- Here are some resumes, just for your files - Just a friendly reminder that you’re not indispensable. This generally occurs around bonus time.
- Hope you’re well-rested from your vacation! - You will regret all the fun and frolicking you had while I slaved here without you. Be prepared for a "To Do" email that temporarily crashes the corporate server.
- How can I make this job more interesting for you? - Low unemployment performance review comment, with a one- to two-year shelf life.
- I saw your e-mail to John - So now you’re omitting me from distribution? I'm on to you…
- I think my idea solves the problem - You’re not losing it; it was your idea, but from now on, it’s your boss’s idea.
- I thought you were handling this - The boss messed up, and you completely forgot about your e-mail trail. Consider online CYA (Cover Your Ass) certification.
- I’ll run it up the flagpole - I will brown-nose appropriately, see where it goes and if I get approval, I’ll let you know "my idea" was accepted.
- If you really think it’s a good idea…- Red alert! Do not fall for this classic pre-emptive blame strategy.
- Jack thinks you need to…- I think you need to...
- Just be happy you have a job here - Visit your job bookmarks at once. Click tock!
- Keep up the good work - Nice job, but I’ll be watching to see if you become a slacker again.
- My door is always open - What your new boss says the day you’re "onboarded" (oops!).
- My nephew’s looking for a job, can you help him? - Please hire him because if I do, it will look really bad.
- Open spaces will encourage interactivity - Now we’ll be saving a ship-load of money, and the executive suite can be completely remodelled.
- Send me an email on that - What your new boss says starting 30 days after onboarding (translation: my door is actually closed).
- We’ll discuss it after the New Year - Your Terrible Office Tyrant (TOT) boss, didn’t read it, won’t read it, and has trouble reading in general. He’s hoping that by January 1, you’ll forget about your report. "After the New Year" means "when the world caves in," but it sounds way more upbeat and definitive. Plus, after the New Year, we all know we're onto/into new things.
- We’re taking you off this project for more important projects - Do stay open to more projects… like job searching.
- What are you doing Saturday morning? - Bad economy question, never meant to make conversation.
- Who’s budget is this coming out of? - Your proposal is dead on arrival (DOA).
- Will you be in all week? - Boom economy question to make conversation.
- You did such a good job at "abc," that I…- You'll soon be working double hours.
- You’re really good with people, so…- This is the last exchange on the planet your manager wants to have with the colleague from hell. You’re on.
- Your performance is slipping - High unemployment performance review comment, with less than one-year shelf life.
- Your subordinate doesn’t like you - Your manager has displaced anger and wants you to stop feeling so darn good about yourself. Also, avoid saying, "I guess me and Sam have more in common than I thought!"
Conclusion
All of the above illustrates how "evolved political correctness" in 2024 dictates conventions around language/word choices, conversations, representations, implications, and social responsibilities, reflecting the desired "political group norm" of fostering and controlling an "inclusive society."
Ending with a Smile
Let's finish on a lighter note:
- Alive - Temporarily metabolically abled
- Bald - Follicularly challenged
- Body Odor - Nondiscretionary fragrance
- Clumsy - Uniquely coordinated
- Dead - Living impaired
- Dishonest - Ethically disoriented
- Fail - Deferred success
- Fail - Deficiency Achievement
- Fat - Horizontally challenged
- Ignorant - Knowledge-based non-possessor
- Lazy - Motivationally deficient
- Short - Vertically challenged
- Spendthrift - Negative saver
- Stoned - Chemically inconvenienced
- Ugly - Cosmetically different
- Unemployed - Involuntarily leisured
- Vagrant - Non-specifically destinationed individual
- Worst - Least best
- Wrong - Differently logical
If we can smile at ourselves, then it cannot be all bad...
End
There, you get the idea…
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