To have gone right off Benedict Cumberbatch

[UsedToBeAPaxmanFan]

I read today that Benedict Cumberbatch has had to apologise after using the phrase "coloured actors". Coloured? Seriously?

He did apologise and said that he knew it was wrong, but the fact that it was in his head in the first place is what's so troubling. I am older than him and have always known that "coloured" is an offensive term. Yes, I am aware that it wasn't considered so until the late 60s, but it hasn't been acceptable in his lifetime.

What was he not thinking?

Tanith
Fascicle, I'm not sure what your point is.
Are you saying the OU list we were given is daft and shouldn't have been issued? Or that we should only take notice of offensive words and phrases we already know? Or accept that people are going to take offence over words and phrases we don't already know and so avoid the ones we're told about, just in case?

My initial response to your reference to a long list was that there isn't much to remember in terms of avoiding offensive expressions and not that much change over time. Some posters have suggested that this is a complex area to get right - I don't think it is. (That said, whilst surprised by Benedict Cumberbatch's use of the word 'coloured', I don't judge him for it, and think his intentions were good.)

I'm not saying the list is daft - I haven't seen it. Some of it might be valid. I am saying that there are some daft inclusions on it, as per your examples. I would expect them to be questioned and not taken at face value, or considered in the same light as a term that is considered to be a racial slur. I don't understand why you would accept all items on the list as being equally important. I referred to different ways of questioning the validity of some of the unusual terms included, including looking at the history and usage.

Two of your examples:

I also remember being lectured about what not to say for fear of causing offence (husband and wife, for example; we must say "partner" instead).

Another which stuck in my mind was that we couldn't use "suffering" as in "suffering from" an ailment because that was disrespectful to those who were genuinely suffering

They don't come close to having the same impact as derogatory racial terms, which are made all the more powerful because of the history behind them. Out of interest, have you put the recommendations from the list into practise since the course? Do you always refer to a 'husband and wife' as 'partners'? And was the list issued across all subjects or was it of particular relevance to the subject you studied? If your list was accepted terminology for a specific subject, rather than generic dos and donts, that puts rather a different light on it.

Eltonsflorist I suggested that earlier and was told non - white is offensive as you are looking at the world from a dominant white view point.

I'm more annoyed that this post has received 576 replies. What a waste of time. People looking to be offended will always be the first to post nonsense. Just because you are offended does not make you correct; what you are doing is creating a hate storm that does not exist than other in your sensitive mind.

You need to consider the context. BC suggesting actors who are not white find it harder to get jobs in the UK isn't the same as referring to all black people as "non white"