Originally published August 7 2013
Seattle language police gone wild: Words like 'citizen' to be banned because they may be 'offensive'
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) The so-called politically correct "speech police" are working overtime in Seattle.
According to local reports, some members of the Seattle City Council are actually considering bans on certain words they believe could be misconstrued or misapplied.
KOMO News said banning words was the subject of an internal memo suggesting that "government workers no longer use terms like 'citizen,' or 'brown bag.'" The city's Office for Civil Rights - apparently, yes, Seattle does actually have such an office - such terms are potentially offensive and therefore other words should be used. No word on how officials who run the "civil rights" office decided one morning that such terms were "offensive."
PC is offensive
"Luckily, we've got options," Elliott Bronstein of the Office for Civil Rights wrote in the memo. "For 'citizens,' how about 'residents?'" he said.
Such talk usually means that someone is trying to avoid the fact that illegal aliens - I mean, "undocumented migrants" - are present.
And right on cue, the Office of Civil Rights pointed out that, you know, Seattle serves all residents, whether they are U.S. citizens or not - though officials did not say whether anyone bothered to ask the taxpayers of Seattle whether they truly want to "serve" those who are not in their city legally.
As to language, well, city leaders have often publicized "brown bag" lunch meetings, as a way to designate the event as a "bring your own lunch" type of thing. But Bronstein said in an interview with KOMO the term has a sordid history.
"It used to be a way people could judge skin color," he said.
Changing words that a few people say are offensive
Maybe in his little world, but in the real world, as the news station pointed out, most people do not, and have never, made such an association.
This craziness isn't confined to Seattle, by the way. Some state lawmakers have voted to remove gender-specific words from official state records.
"Freshman [sic] are now 'first-years,' journeymen are 'journey-level,' and penmanship is simply 'handwriting,'" KOMO reported.
So, what are people supposed to use instead of "brown bag?" The memo says people should try the phrase "lunch and learn," or "sack lunch."
Here's a term for Bronstein: Wacko.
Sources:
http://www.breitbart.com
http://www.komonews.com
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