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Well said, Barry, although "Palin prime" would seem more appropriate

Posted By: Daniel Murphy
Date: Sunday, 21 November 2010, at 3:58 a.m.

In Response To: Well said, Barry, although "Palin prime" would seem more appropriate (Barry Silliman)

Barry, I'm glad you and Joe can agree to disagree on the "P" word.

I'm thinking that if "blitzkrieg" were really a synonym for "Nazi war machine," it might be understandable that someone might be offended by "blitz." But "blitzkrieg" has a more specific reference to a particular tactic employed (not for the last time) by the German army in WWII, and "blitz" has long been used in English to mean a quick, strong and overwhelming attack. If I learned that anyone were offended by "blitz," I might have to suppress a snigger.

Thanks for the link to the story about the Washington, D.C. aide. I remember that incident, but it seems that overly sensitive folks with limited vocabularies can be found in many places. I agree with Julian Bond (cited in the article you linked to) that no one should "have to censor your language to meet other people's lack of understanding." I agree with Donald De Marco, writing about the same incident, that it ought to be possible "to be sensitive without being stupid .. and to be intelligent without being offensive." More generally, I agree with Philip Pullman that "no one has the right to spend their life without being offended."

I don't agree that no one should ever be offended, or simply ignore any offense. Some things are offensive. Some people intend to offend. "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" is a fine maxim, but it's only a half-truth. Words can hurt; words do hurt. But to the extent that "political correctness" has come to mean one shouldn't say or do anything that might possibly offend someone, well, that's no guide for members of open and vibrant societies. Oversensitivity makes for bad and sometimes laughable decisions. For instance (in a case the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear last year), the Washington state high school principal who forbade the band from playing "Ave Maria" at commencement because someone might be offended by nonsecular instrumental music. And for another, more recently, the British children's store that removed the pig from its HappyLand Goosefeather Farm on the off chance that the little oinker might offend Jewish and Muslim parents.

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