Politically Correct Language

Politically Correct Language

Language is an important part of our everyday lives. Unfortunately, language can sometimes be confusing and open to misinterpretation. In William Lutz’s article “Double Talk,” he views “politically correct” language as being euphemistic and negative. It is the idea of using language in a way that we don’t offend someone who’s directly connected to a certain topic. Lutz intends to address the subject of sloppy addiction leading to sloppy thinking. He mentions himself as a cripple, and states that “It was the actions of others, not the words, that hurt” (66). I agree with Lutz’s view in that political correct language is euphemistic, negative, and absurd. There really is no need for this type of language.

Euphemism is used to mislead, deceive, and hide the true reality from people in a way that you won’t hurt their feelings. Lutz describes himself as being a crippled, and the word never bothered him. What bothered him were the actions that were made towards him. “Now, of course, thanks to P.C., we would be described as physically challenged, uniquely abled, differently abled, orthopedically impaired, or as having different abilities” (66). The word crippled is being replaced by more longer and complicated terms that to me seem to have different meanings from each other, and not one is being linked to the actual term itself. Politically correct language is euphemistic because it is used to mislead people by referring to them in different terms. Aside from Euphemistic, political correct language is also viewed as being negative.

Most of the times people don’t really know what the terms used in politically correct

language mean or what they’re supposed to replace, making this language negative. This

language is often used by people in power such as senators, presidents, CEOs, and prime ministers. Typically, the speaker may use more complex words which the general public might not know the meaning of. It pretends to communicate,...