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Subject:PC words and tech writing From:"Gutierrez, Diane" <Diane -dot- Gutierrez -at- WESTGROUP -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 11 Dec 1998 10:51:15 -0600
I have long wondered about this: politically correct words may not match
words in current medical or scientific usage. Is the trend changing in this
area also, despite some diehard authors insisting on the old terminology?
Example: deaf-mute, deaf-mutism, (medical term for early hearing impairment
in excess of 85 db ISO) as opposed to: deaf, hearing-impaired(the general
PC usage).
Other terms that could be questioned: Negro, Negroid
(anthropology/archaeology/pathology); retarded
(psychometrics/engineering/medicine); tainted, blighted
(genetics/botany/cytology).
