Monday, February 06, 2023

'Jump the gun', 'roll with the punches' and 'deadline' are the latest phrases to be branded offensive due to their 'violent' undertones


They are words and phrases that have been a part of the English language for centuries.

But now ‘jump the gun’, ‘roll with the punches’ and even ‘deadline’ are on a new ultra-woke list of terms to avoid because they are considered too ‘violent’.

Instead, safer alternatives are suggested with, for example, ‘that’ll kill two birds with one stone’ being replaced with ‘that’ll feed two birds with one scone’.

The guide is entitled Evolving From Violent Language and was created, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the ultra-woke US state California.

Author Anna Taylor is a communications director and ‘diversity, equity and inclusion champion’ at technology company Phenomenex.

Last night, Ms Taylor told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The guide is for those who would like to replace mostly violently framed idioms with more positive and inclusive language.’

The list has been shared on Twitter, where it received more than 30 million views. Silicon Valley tech business adviser Jeremiah Owyang endorsed it, writing: ‘I didn’t even consider my language, I’ve used the phrases on the left too often.’

A woman who works in advertising and marketing added: ‘While that may sound like some “wokie” nonsense, it’s fundamentally solid. How even seemingly innocuous sayings can inspire violent tendencies that do us a disservice when we communicate.’

But others pointed out that some phrases are not based in violence, such as ‘jump the gun’, which refers to runners in an athletics race starting too soon.

Last night Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent, warned: ‘Some people might regard these ultra-woke suggestions as harmless and even amusing. But it’s not funny at all because the re-engineering of language subverts the way we think and our way of life. There’s a tendency now to inflate in an alarmist way the meaning of words.

‘They are attributing to these phrases the worst possible motives, rather than taking a step back and seeing these expressions have got nothing to do with violent intent

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11714189/Latest-phrases-branded-offensive-violent-undertones.html

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1 comment:

Stan B said...

Anyone who says "don't jump the gun" is violent is an idiot, and their opinions can be ignored. There is nothing inherently violent in a race official's starter pistol. But because it has the word "gun" in it, it MUST be violent.

Self-important people obsessing over the words of others....