Political correctness influences us?

[SonarP]

I hope that this combines some of the threads around. Let's check this out.

Two people are talking. One says to the other,"Well, that's gay."

Why not say this, I ask?
"Well, that's bi/pan/transgendered."

I hate the fact that people use that word to describe something bad. I wanna get up and smack them in the face with a shoe. I don't, because it's such a socially accepted word to use. I feel that I'm just as bad as the person using the word, though. :^| But I have lesbian parents who use it all the time. Ain't that something?

"***** please!"
Okay, honestly, as an African-American, I feel offended even hearing this word. Ever heard of niggaspace.com, a myspace.com spin-off? "*****" is used to capture friendship and brotherhood..maybe like "dude"? I'd be just fine with someone calling me "ami" or something like that. Call me a *****, and you'll be throwing fighting words. But "******" is used to call someone stupid, mainly someone of African-American blood.
*****=good
******=bad?
The only solution I have for this word is to get rid of it completely, but that's impossible, because you'd be wiping a good fraction of American history off the face of the planet. NO ONE should be using the word, in my opinion. PERIOD.

Maybe this is nothing new, but I think our politics and peer pressure affect the grammar, too.
Comments?  

[Drudra]

It has been historically proven that politics affect the language. As for the "gay" issue....I hate that word; it originally meant "happy", then it meant homosexual (still does), but now it's also slang for stupid/bad. This poor word deserves a rest. i vote to retire it permanently!

As for the N*** word (I almost spelled it out! sorry...) I think this word is jacked up. If a black person says it, it's ok, but if any other nationality says it, they are liable to get beat up.....and that's just not right. Its a descriminatory word, both in use and meaning.
Also, in Spanish, the word for black is "Negro"....so, yea, that could create problems... ninja  

[Angelic-Sargeant]

Maybe N**** is attempted to be turned into a brotherly word? That might solve the problem, people might use the word no to mean brother-hood. As so, it is not used as a bad word anymore? That's all I can think of.

 

[The MoUsY spell-checker]

ARMAGEDDON12

Maybe N**** is attempted to be turned into a brotherly word? That might solve the problem, people might use the word no to mean brother-hood. As so, it is not used as a bad word anymore? That's all I can think of.

There are African-Americans who attempt to "reclaim" the N-word as a term of endearment, usually with the -a ending rather than -er.

According to The Word Nerds (This is a podcast. I don't remember which episode.), there are even Caucasians who use the word as a term of endearment.  

[Zealot of Insanity]

I believe my government has been swayed far too much by political correctness. I, however, listen to a radio station that fills my head with anti-political correctness propoganda, therefore, I'm biased in my own "correct" sort of way.  

[Doppelgaanger]

Drudra

It has been historically proven that politics affect the language. As for the "gay" issue....I hate that word; it originally meant "happy", then it meant homosexual (still does), but now it's also slang for stupid/bad. This poor word deserves a rest. i vote to retire it permanently!

As for the N*** word (I almost spelled it out! sorry...) I think this word is jacked up. If a black person says it, it's ok, but if any other nationality says it, they are liable to get beat up.....and that's just not right. Its a discriminatory word, both in use and meaning.
Also, in Spanish, the word for black is "Negro"....so, yea, that could create problems... ninja

"Negro" in Spanish terms means the literal color black, not the nationality. However, when used by Americans to describe a black person (like in the film "To Kill a Mockingbird") it is generally a derogatory term,  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

I believe in Jesus Christ, my Savior. If you do too, and aren't scared to admit it, then copy and paste this into your signature.

I honestly just wish people would let other people say what they wanted and stop expecting everyone to change the way they speak just to accommodate them.

Political correctness pisses me off because it's always one person in a room telling the other ten how to speak to please them. In the old days, the one person would have had to keep quiet so as not to piss off the majority. What ever happened to those good old days?

 

[Organic Shadows]

Way to end a conversation, Yami. Plus, it's just a cycle. Most of the time, everyone says "what they want" because they were influenced by others. It can work both ways, right?

What bothers me is when Caucasian, Asian, or Hispanic people try to act "black," for two reasons, and they sort of cancel each other out: act your own way, just be your own "rationality" or whatever. The second is: why is there a difference in acting "white" or "black"? Sometimes there isn't, but why should there be? I'm not saying that we should all be the exact same, but still.  

[l3viathan]

I agree with everything you said here, especially the part about politics having an effect on grammar. I highly disapprove of using "gay" as an insult for two reasons. One being because that word practically means "cheerful", and the other reason being because it's unintentionally (sometimes intentionally) bashing homosexuals. I find it ironic that the word has been so accepted as an insult that even homosexuals are using it now. It also pissed me off that whenever I was in literature class, and we happened to be reading out loud and stumbled upon the word in the text, people started laughing at it. *Siiigh* I hate politics in general though. All it ever causes are fights. --;