Politically Correct
Swami Nikhilaananda said:
"People stressing on being politically correct are not among the ones who defend, but are those who underestimate"
I was going through Bangalore Times today and happened to read an article about being politically correct. The article was long and finely written - well, don't ask me to comment about the contents. People with sense and blood pressure problems at the same time are requested not to go through the article. The reason? Well, read the small gist below
The article says that it is Politically Incorrect to call a fat person fat because the person might feel offended and demotivated and may get into depression and may end up eating more instead of trying to slim down. Instead we should say - obese. So much for calling a spade a spade eh? Or not really. A person who is mad should be called mentally ill. It goes on further saying some more weird things.
Well, what exactly did we conclude from this? It says that a person who is fat perhaps always has a low vocabulary. I come to this conclusion because apparently a fat person gets offended if called fat but not obese. WHY? The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the person maybe doesn't know the meaning of the word. Thus euphemism can be used safely - and more so on fat people, because according to the author of that article
"All fat people have bad vocabulary"
which maybe next time can be added as one of the quotes.
We must therefore try to understand that there is no such thing as a euphemism. You can use euphemism only provided the other person is a little dull. Otherwise calling a person fat, obese, round, overweight, pot-bellied, prosperous, satisfied etc. will definitely convey the very same message to the listener - "Dude, you are overweight, go jog" - Let's therefore call a spade a spade, or if you feel that it will offend the person, refrain from passing the comment. Not doing "Politically Correct" or you may end up having a intumesced labia [swollen lips :P]
Check out what George Carlin has to say about the matter
"People stressing on being politically correct are not among the ones who defend, but are those who underestimate"
I was going through Bangalore Times today and happened to read an article about being politically correct. The article was long and finely written - well, don't ask me to comment about the contents. People with sense and blood pressure problems at the same time are requested not to go through the article. The reason? Well, read the small gist below
The article says that it is Politically Incorrect to call a fat person fat because the person might feel offended and demotivated and may get into depression and may end up eating more instead of trying to slim down. Instead we should say - obese. So much for calling a spade a spade eh? Or not really. A person who is mad should be called mentally ill. It goes on further saying some more weird things.
Well, what exactly did we conclude from this? It says that a person who is fat perhaps always has a low vocabulary. I come to this conclusion because apparently a fat person gets offended if called fat but not obese. WHY? The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the person maybe doesn't know the meaning of the word. Thus euphemism can be used safely - and more so on fat people, because according to the author of that article
"All fat people have bad vocabulary"
which maybe next time can be added as one of the quotes.
We must therefore try to understand that there is no such thing as a euphemism. You can use euphemism only provided the other person is a little dull. Otherwise calling a person fat, obese, round, overweight, pot-bellied, prosperous, satisfied etc. will definitely convey the very same message to the listener - "Dude, you are overweight, go jog" - Let's therefore call a spade a spade, or if you feel that it will offend the person, refrain from passing the comment. Not doing "Politically Correct" or you may end up having a intumesced labia [swollen lips :P]
Check out what George Carlin has to say about the matter
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