GoodKarma's MindMelt
'NIP IT IN THE BUD'I recently read an article(below) about how some words and phrases are being banned in the UK.What do you TF'ers think is this going way overboard? or is it warranted to keep the airwaves clean and decent? don't be shy now... let me know what you really feel.
below is a photo of the late funny guy Don Knox from
the andy griffith show 'barney fife'...
Article by Thane Burnett, Sun Media
Is Moist a dirty word? As guardians of the English language, usually garrulous tongued UK residents are finding themselves at a loss for words. Many of their favourite phrases have been banned. Dozens of taxpayer-funded organizations in the UK are drawing black lines through dozens of common words and phrases they’ve decided are offensive — though they wouldn’t be able to spell it out that way. Gone, for fear of racism or sexism, are terms like “whiter than white,” “black mark” and even “right-hand man.” An indignant British press fear the English language is under attack, as institutions, including The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, have told staff there is no such thing as a "black day." Instead, it’s a universal "miserable day." And you won’t find any "gentleman’s agreements" being made in the halls of the National Gallery in London. Such bonds are now "unwritten agreements."
No place is safe from being suspect – even the "master bedroom" is a problem for uber-sensitive officials at Newcastle University. But on this side of the Atlantic, one curious word seems to be under attack. Not that’s it’s offensive. But because it makes people — especially women — feel icky. Entire websites now revolve around a hatred of "moist." There are a dozen Facebook groups calling for an end of the word, with ‘I HATE the word MOIST!" boasting 822 decidedly dry members. Even television has acknowledged the moist backlash, with a character on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother venting the word rubs her the wrong way. University of Pennsylvania linguist Mark Liberman has traced the evolving resentment over the adjective. He’s found humans carry around a propensity for "word aversion." Among those that give us the creeps, are “hardscrabble,” “pugilist,” “squall” and “giggle.” Liberman tells Sun Media the aversion often seems purely phonetic, though other words, like “baffle,” evoke an unpleasant sensation. Many even harbour nasty feelings toward “creamy,” “navel” and even “panties,” which may contain sexual aspects, he notes. However, none compare to the flood of disgust for “moist.” “(It) seems to be the word with the largest number of haters, apparently because it hits so many phonetic and semantic buttons at once,” he explains. But like the British press coming to the defence of common expressions and sense, “moist” is finding champions. New sites and social networking groups have sprung up to defend it, afraid “moist” has become a black sheep in our language — if we were allowed to use that phrase any more.
if you read this far thanks for stopping by click and have a beer on me...have a great weekend....cheers!!
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