Google Docs has become the latest speech enforcer

 We've all seen language evolve, but some of the kinder, sweeter, more leftist inclusive stuff is just nonsense and gag-worthy.  Google is now eliminating or suggesting alternates for "mother" or "lord" or "master" in some well-known idiomatic expressions.  It reminds me of some of the ridiculous phrase twisting we lived through in the 80s and 90s, like "handicapped" or all the polite ways to say "mentally challenged" instead of "retarded."  A whole generation of adolescents had to give up a favorite common insult.  The word "challenged" has become a joke.  I use it when I tell people I'm math challenged, or directionally challenged. (If I don't have my watch on my left wrist, don't give me directions.)  So that has given us pregnant people and assigned sex at birth. Remember a few years back when someone who didn't have a good grasp of English thought "niggardly" was a reference to blacks?  People are so incensed with "black face" (used mostly by Democrat entertainers and politicians like Jimmy Kimmel and Joy Behar) last week there was a black DJ at a high school dance accused of wearing black face--that's the live reenactment of being overly sensitive about words.  I'm so old I remember when black was the insult and Negro was the correct term. I think even "senior citizen" is on the chopping block.

https://www.techradar.com/news/google-docs-is-having-some-serious-issues-with-its-new-inclusive-language-warnings

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7dk8m/googles-ai-powered-inclusive-warnings-feature-is-very-broken

https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-inclusive-language-cancel-culture-censor-free-speech-offended-woke-micro-aggression-microsoft-11642800484

English is a strange language

"Underserved populations" is the term used for groups for which researchers and politicians get government grants, so there may be lack of resources somewhere, but "underserved" they aren't. There are special programs to track them down to offer them more entitlements.

"Bloombito" is a Twitter acount which ridicules Mayor Bloomberg's attempts to woo the Spanish speaking population of NYC with the worst Spanish you've ever heard.

"Public servant" is a government employee who may earn 3x more than a private sector employee who pays his salary.

"Family balancing" is aborting the female fetus through sex selection.

"Intellectual disability" is a new term used by those wordsmiths who gave up on "mentally retarded" and "developmentally disabled," but the word intellectual used to have some snob appeal and usually meant people at the other end of the IQ spectrum.

"Current thinking" is a sloppy euphemism that usually throws out what was current 3-4 years ago, but it it used rather than citing the document.

"Adopt a pet" is something you do when you can't give birth to one.

"Reality TV" is completely unreal.

"Food insecurity" has replaced "hunger" because not enough people were hungry to fund 25 programs and all the government workers dependent on them.

"Food stamps"--we don't have them anymore, they are now SNAP, supplemental nutrition assistance program, and I think it's a plastic card.

Weasel words and phrases to watch for--because they are meaningless

WAGE INEQUALITY doesn’t mean poor, doesn’t mean rich. It means a high school student working at Panera’s in a part time job makes less than a computer programmer with a college degree working for Bill Gates. It means Bill Gates makes more than the President of the United States. Wage inequality is an inflammatory phrase, however, so think about it the next time you hear it. It also means that a 2 income household generally has more money than a one income or no income household receiving government assistance, which shouldn't be rocket science.

FOOD INSECURITY doesn’t mean hunger or starvation, and especially doesn’t mean too few calories. It means that some time during the last week, month or year, a person or head of household wasn’t sure where tomorrow’s meals were coming from. Could be one day until the social security check arrived, or the support payment from the ex-, or perhaps a tornado blew through town and you have no kitchen, pantry or paycheck and the bank is gone, too. Think about that term when you hear about 14% of the nation being “food insecure.”

FOOD STAMPS don’t exist anymore; The program is now called SNAP and they don‘t use stamps, but a plastic debit-like card. Regardless of the name, they were never intended to feed families, only to supplement the resources a family already had. So if some wise guy asks you if you could live on food stamps, say NO, because that’s not the intention. The USDA began this program in the 1940s to assist farmers--there were surpluses after WWII. Now the USDA is about food subsidies, not farm subsidies, and it is also about changing behavior which costs more and is more complicated, requiring many more staff which is where a lot of the money goes. The government has about 26 food programs spread across six different federal agencies.

A LIVING WAGE begs the question whose life, what wage and living where? In 1983 when I worked for JTPA (Job Training Partnership Act which replaced CETA) I was told a living wage was $10.50 an hour in order to live minimally in Washington DC (it would have been middle class for Columbus). Not even college grads were making that 28 years ago in most cases. But that’s what the workshop presenters wanted in government entitlements--housing, child care, food, education--for welfare mothers. If a stay-at-home mom goes back to work waiting tables at lunch when the kids go to college, should she be paid “a living wage?” Listen carefully when you hear a speaker demand a “living wage” for the poor. Does he mean your babysitter, which would put you out of work? Door to door Bible salesman, which means you couldn‘t afford it? The school teacher today earns more per hour than an accountant or architect. 10 years out of college making $70,000 for 10 months with a guaranteed pension at age 55 with a union to protect her. Or how about your congressman?

ACCESS used to mean a wheel chair ramp into a restaurant or public building. Not anymore. Now it is folded into anything someone of a minority or different culture might have in their original homeland. And that includes food at public institutions or schools and no pork in government feeding programs. It might mean no gluten or peanut butter for you kid even if he's not allergic. It also means having farmer’s markets in poor neighborhoods, a long, long way from the truck farmer. It means making the low income people experimental subjects for every cockamamie sociology and nutrition program your local college or university can dream up. “Eat it, it’s good for you. Because I said so.”

SUSTAINABILITY is the all-purpose, go-to word when “green” or “tree-hugger” or “renewable” sounds too crass or over done. It’s meaningless when you think about it. Agriculture, whether industrial type farms or organic plots or your backyard, requires huge inputs--seeds, fertilizers, water, labor, and technology. Boondoggles like growing corn for ethanol were found wanting 30 years ago, but agriculture lobbyists keep at it. Fields were planted right up to roads creating run off and destroying wild animal habitat leaving birds with no home which then required more pesticides. Thousands of acres of corn changed the moisture content in the air which created storms in neighboring counties and states. Trucking the corn to storage kept huge vehicles running day and night polluting the air. Trees and animals are actually renewable resources, and petroleum is decayed vegetable matter with stored energy waiting to be used, but don’t confuse an environmentalist with science. They’re looking for religion. Oh yes, is there anything uglier than a wind farm?

The jargon creep

Not a creep that uses jargon, but a description of a program so filled with gooble-de-gook you either skim over and don't notice it, or gag:

"Ohio State University College of Social Work [description] First accredited in 1919, the College of Social Work is the oldest continuously accredited social work program in the country. The college, through excellence in teaching, research, and service, prepares leaders who enhance individual and community well-being, celebrate difference, and promote social and economic justice for vulnerable populations. It fosters social change through collaboration with individuals, families, communities, and other change agents to build strengths and resolve complex individual and social problems. As an internationally recognized college, it builds and applies knowledge that positively impacts Ohio, the nation and the world. Social Work's vision is to “embrace difference, seek justice, and be the change.”

• prepare leaders (I hope they prepare a few followers, because without sensible, educated, skilled followers, there's no one to lead)
  
• enhance (vt from old French via Latin; improve, increase
  
• community well-being (a moving target--depends on the amount of the grant)
  
• promote social and economic justice (guidelines from Saul Alinsky, Mao, small sects and cults living on Pacific Islands, various dead, and some living in Chicago, heros from the 1970s and Latin American revolutions--whether in church or college these are code phrases for some form of socialism, never capitalism, the system for which most immigrants come here and with which they succeed)
  
• vulnerable populations (whatever group brings in the most government money--could be Appalachian resettled miners, mentally ill street people, Vietnam vets, unemployed TV and toaster repairmen)
  
• celebrate difference (convince middle class rural and suburban college kids that their own lives and values are worthless)
  
• foster (v. from Old English word for food and feeding; giving parental care or nurture; encourage; promote growth or development)
  
• social change (what academics and government officials do for a living which affords a comfortable life style and sense of purpose for the agent; what they promote when they don't like someone else's values, religion, appearance, beliefs)
  
• collaboration (lots of meetings, task forces, papers, and empire building)
  
• other change agents (non-profits, churches, local government officials, members of the DNC, assorted useful misfits--most surviving on federal grants)
  
• families (any mix and match group)
  
• social problem (crime, education, voter behavior, smoking, obesity, or any people or personal structure that will not respond to government intervention so that the income stream is steady)
  
• you get the idea, jargon.

I've written so many mission statements I could do it in my sleep. You take 3 columns of words, (usually nouns, verbs, adjectives with as little specificity as possible) and start building sentences that will be as vague as possible, and never hold you accountable come evaluation time.

First column: university, college, department, program, unit, committee, community, individual, agent, purpose, class, victims, technology, change, hope etc. etc.

Second column: best, finest, newest, oldest, complex, simple, collaborative, positive, negative, vulnerable, weak, strong, sustainable, eco-friendly, green, digital, economic, social, cultural, diverse, digitized, etc., etc.

Third column: prepare, promote, enhance, foster, nurture, involve, increase, decrease, build, remove, improve, resolve, recognize, change, equip, engage, etc.

Fourth possible column: these would be adverbs, or other squish words, but use sparingly.

Just for fun and comparaison, Google this phrase, "mission statement school of social work" and just browse what the individual universities describe as their mission. Stoneybrook is big on "oppression," and Georgia is concerned about families. Some are specific about skills and expectations; some just float in a sea of meaningless words. You can almost guess the age and political preferences of the writers.

LA Times still reluctant to use the T-word

Seems as though the T-word is still a No-No for journalists.

"The Yemeni Interior Ministry reported over the weekend that nine foreigners were abducted Friday while picnicking near the northern town of Sadah. They were described as seven Germans, including a doctor, his wife and three children, a British engineer and a South Korean teacher. The six adults were based at a hospital in Sadah, where foreign doctors and nurses have worked for more than 30 years.

There were conflicting reports Monday about whether children were among the dead. Some accounts, citing unnamed government security officials and local tribesmen, said police had recovered seven to nine bodies. Three, with gunshot wounds and signs of mutilation, were found by shepherds and others, according to varying accounts. According to some accounts, two children were found alive.

The British and German embassies could not immediately confirm the deaths. South Korea identified its missing citizen as a 34-year-old woman.

"We are aware of these reports. We are looking into them," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel."

And it's not that they didn't have opportunities as they poured over their thesarus.

". . . there were suggestions that Al Qaeda militants might have been involved. Kidnappings are common in Yemen, but the killing of hostages has been rare."

"Sunni extremists backed by Al Qaeda; a secessionist movement in the south. . ."

"Islamic extremists have carried out a number of attacks on foreigners. . ."

"The discovery of the bodies came a day after authorities announced the arrest of Hassan Hussein bin Alwan, a Saudi national accused of financing Al Qaeda activities in Yemen and Saudi Arabi."

If he only had a brain T.

Today's new word is IRENIC

Number one on my list of New Year's Resolutions for 2009 was to learn a new word a day--or maybe a week. I expanded the borders a bit on this one--deciding a new word could just be one I'd skip over in reading, but probably not be confident to ever use. I keep a small spiral bound note pad next to the lamp in the living room, which is next to my parents Merriam-Webster 2nd Unabridged New International (1948) in the dining room. I find it much more satisfying to use rather than an on-line source, although it bothers my back just a stitch to lean over (sits on my mother's sewing cabinet).

I write on approximately 20 topics if you count all my blogs, everything from childhood memories of Camp Emmaus, to first issues of journals, to political campaigns to misuse of credit. However, the difficulty level of my blog (when I type in the URL to one of those widgets) is always middle school or high school. I think in order to rate higher, you need to use a lot of non-English words or quote famous people, neither of which I do.

So today's new word is IRENIC. Here's the context, the reason I wrote it down

"While not declaring the Roman Catholic Church apostate, Norman Geisler and Joshua Betancourt address the doctrines that evangelicals find problematic in Catholicism. The work is irenic in tone, meticulous in examination, and extensive in sourcing and footnoting."

Change that e to an o and you get IRONIC, which is what my mind tends to do when I'm not sure. However, IRENIC means peaceful or conciliatory. If your name or your mother's name is IRENE, it's from the Greek, "goddess of peace."

Other new or rarely used words for January

1. effete--excessive self indulgence, feeble, impotent, no longer fertile
   
2. immanence--nearness of God, God with us, Emmanuel
   
3. eremacausis--slow burning fire; gradual oxidation, decay
   
4. solecism--speaking incorrectly; minor blunder in speech; breach of etiquette
   
5. immutable--not capable or susceptible of change; unchangeable
   
6. insensate--without sensation; without sense or intelligence; unfeeling or foolish
   
7. Euroclydon--tempestuous northeast wind of the Mediterreanean
   
8. gibbet--gallows; to execute by hanging; a projecting arm of a crane; to expose to infamy

What's really fun is to see how other bloggers use these words. For instance, would you ever say or write, "effete Arugula"? That's stretching it a bit, don't you think? I avoid arugula in spring mix--think it is bitter. And would you feel safe living in the Euroclydon Nursing Home?

Does anyone who speaks English know what this means?

"Differential access to and ability to use communication technologies creates potentially disenfranchising knowledge gaps."

I'm guessing it means someone at the local level wants federal government money to teach kids to use computers, but only if the kids are poor or minority. What's your guess?

"Distributed Data Curation Center (D2C2) investigates and pursues innovative solutions for curation issues of organizing, facilitating access to, archiving for and preserving research data and data sets in complex environments."

Someone was enamored with the first Star Wars character, R2D2. "Facilitate" is one of the squishiest words in the English language. Very useful--stretches, morphs, expands into total worthlessness. My good spell checker burped at "curation."

"Beginning April 1, 2008, The Frank Gates Companies/Attenta will become Avizent™."

I remember when Lutheran Brotherhood (fraternal insurance company) became Thrivent--a made up name. Acronyms are one thing, like JAMA or OCLC, but "designer names" that sound like pharmaceuticals are just irritating. I would rather do business with a Frank Gates than an Avizent, which sounds like a med for an STD.

I love words, especially in English, and I hate to see them abused and kicked to the curb.

Wine vocabulary;
men and women use different vocabulary;
teen-speak ;
ingredients lists;
Latinized vocabulary
using must, may and might
adverbosity
sheep