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Subject:Re: PC terms From:Rob Howard <planb -at- SIMCOE -dot- NET> Date:Mon, 26 Apr 1999 23:07:37 -0400
>Language IS power.
>
>Those who maipulate language are manipulating thought. This is true whether
>they operate by insisting that "P.C." terms be used, or by demanding that
>"is" be allowed to mean just what they meant at the moment they said it, no
>more, no less.
I know I'm going to regret this but....
I haven't seen any evidence of anyone in this thread "insisting" on
anything. IMHO the request for an alternative to "man-hour" was quite
valid. Since then I've read quite a few reactionary comments on the nature
of political correctness and a few fairly even toned comments about why
people might want to give greater consideration to the words they choose.
Here's my 2 cents. The term "man-hour" is clearly an invented word of
modern origin. It's not something we inherited from some distant
patriarchal past. The structure of English isn't going to disintegrate if
we fiddle with "man-hour". The thought that as writers we might
deliberatley recast the term to be more inclusive and more reflective of a
current reality seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Now to Daniel Hall's contention that, "Those who manipulate language are
manipulating thought". I would have thought that to be self-evident. I'm
manipulating language right now (engineering it) in order to create what I
hope is a fair and reasoned take on this discussion ie have an effect on
your thoughts.
Maybe the idea that we might want to rethink a tiny fraction of our lexicon
is sometimes an affront to....to what?...the status quo? To generations of
history that have seen men as the pre-eminent gender. I'd certainly have a
hard time defending that.
On a completely different note, my best regards to everyone on this list.
I'm new to the field and this list continues to be my best source of
instruction about technical communications - I couldn't ask for a better
set of teachers.
Rob
Robert Howard
Destination Elmvale
A Plan B Website http://www.elmvale.com
info -at- elmvale -dot- com
ICQ 22607003
