Word Police Misguided

Openclipart, johnney_automatic

At various universities, an official or a student group have made a list of words that should not be used. These words are deemed offensive to groups or individuals. Recently, the word "lame" was put on the list. Originally meaning someone that couldn't walk, then as slang it meant stupid, unoriginal, unsophisticated.

The problem with the word police is that they don't understand that meanings change with the times. It's a from the ground up usage change. It just happens among the people. Nothing can change that. We don't need mind control through word control.

But some people have been trying to do just that. Enter bias-free language books. Using words to hurt people is wrong. But this correcting of how people speak and write has gone to an extreme that is nauseous. These words police would do better if they put their energy and effort into something constructive.

Proverbs 16:24
 "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."

Proverbs took care of the problem centuries ago. Just be pleasant in speech, then you won't say anything truly offensive. These days flagrant use of prejudiced or biased words is rare.

But the word police are obsessed to the point of being ridiculous. They have coined the term microaggressions. You know it's à la  1984 when it's considered offensive to ask someone where they are from because their name sounds foreign. Well, isn't it a microaggression to ask that question?

If people want to be concerned about language usage, how about being ashamed and offended by foul language and using God's name disrespectfully such as OMG or oh my god.

But trying to control pronoun usage and nitpicking commonly used words and phrases is beyond the pale.