to ask if the term "politically incorrect" has ever been actually used except in a straw man sense.

[smashedinductionhob]

Just got "bingo" on another thread as someone said "Why is it Politically Incorrect to say XYZ...."

And I couldn't help but wonder, has anyone ever used the term "straight"? Has anyone on this forum ever thought, disapprovingly, or said, disapprovingly that something was wrong/bad because it was "politically incorrect". If so, what did you mean?

Or is it purely a straw man thing as I suspect? something that is only ascribed to other people?

Many years ago, a friend did say that my views on drug addiction were politically incorrect. Exact words. But it's one of those phrases that only usually gets used by the other side.

I often wonder if anyone has ever called anybody 'the devil incarnate' or if that's another phrase that exists in the imagination of the insulted.

I've never come across it used 'straight'. Then again, the people who use it when complaining about how you 'can't say anything nowadays' seldom or never seem to use the term in anything like an accurate sense, anyway.

morris, can you paraphrase what the friend meant?

I like the idea of going around accusing other people of being the devil incarnate.

Today at work I have been told I shouldn't call the "dry wipe board" a white board as it's racist

Utter load of bollocks. It's a board and it's white.

was that person serious Opal?

Where on earth you do you work?

No. There is no "political correctness policy" at my work. There's COSHH policies, other health and safety policies, anti bullying policies, anti discrimination policies.

I have never, ever, been on training or seen a policy that was titled "plolitical correct policies"

Opal I'll go out on a limb here and guess that the person who said that to you was white?

perhaps unsurprisingly..... ;)

Smashed I did ask if it was a joke and apparently not. To be accurate it wasn't my workplace ruling but a 3rd party on site.

Tinsel Yes, how did you possibly guess!

I would use it more or less in earnest about books/films/by programmes that were "of their time". So I might say "I recommend the Dr Doolittle books but make sure that you get the modern edited editions because the originals were well-meaning but staggeringly politically incorrect".

I got told that I should change 'black and white' in a sentence in which I was saying an approach being taken to a problem was very black and white.

Surely this phrase stems from the fact that black and white are the extremes of a spectrum of colour, i.e. indicating that somebody is only seeing the extremes of something and not all of the states that exist in between? It isn't implying any link to people. You could equally say that an approach to a problem was very "beige and fuschia", were it not for the fact that 'black and white' has become the accepted idiom.

I think there are hundreds of genuine cases where a word or phrase does have certain connotations which could be offensive to groups they potentially connote, and when it's fair enough to respect that and find alternative wording, but where 'political correctness' irritates me slightly is when totally fundamental human words such as 'black' and 'white' (even when referring to objects of those colours) become seen as controversial.

Official third party or random visitor?
(As you can probably tell I am struggling to believe this).

"I would use it more or less in earnest about books/films/by programmes that were "of their time". So I might say "I recommend the Dr Doolittle books but make sure that you get the modern edited editions because the originals were well-meaning but staggeringly politically incorrect".

You are not using it straight there.

but where 'political correctness' irritates me slightly is when totally fundamental human words such as 'black' and 'white' (even when referring to objects of those colours) become seen as controversial

But there is nothing "politically correct" about that, for one, it's not "correct" at all, its misguided virtue signalling crossed with plain old stupidity.

Sniffle, the point for me is that it is only ever attributed to others.

people's thinking is often quite crude- in English there is a tendency to use 'black' to indicate something bad or sinister and I think at some level that does feed in to notions of Black/ethnic minority people as 'other'. But that's a world away from the whole blackboard/baa baa black sheep thing which I highly doubt ever happened. People objecting to 'whiteboard' just haven't thought it through. I'd just say- 'really? why?' and wait for them to explain how on earth it could be offensive.

I'd say I'm using it straight. I genuinely want to keep the original text of the books away from children because I believe some of the sentiments and portrayals expressed to be morally, factually and politically wrong.

Smashed It was an official visitor... who came to take the old white board away and replace it with a bigger shiny clean one.
I stuck my head through the door and asked if we were finally joining the 21st century and replacing the white board with a SMART board.

Not that this board has anything to do with me or affects my work, I'm nosey

I first heard politically correct in about 1989. From a lefty friend who was trying to warn me not to say things that would piss off other lefty people. That was the original meaning, an ironic comment among the lefties to each other about extremism that squashed free speech.

funny because I was a rabid lefty from 1984 and never heard it used in that way

yes, lljkk, that's how I first heard it, in a very knowing/ironic way, amongst quite a small group of people. That's the tone I infer from Actually- although the feeling is genuine (the books contain unsuitable material) describing it as 'politically incorrect' is a shorthand which she expects others who are like minded to understand. Otherwise she'd have to say, 'the books are good in many ways but contain racial stereotyping which was unremarkable at the time of writing but should now be avoided.'

PC gone nuts. Black board, white board its called that because its the colour of the board nothing to do with race

When i asked for a pool woggle at the swimming pool the other day, the lady behind the counter looked horrified and said, ' oh madam you can't call it that, it isn't politically correct'

I have to be honest, I was so bloody confused I ended up referring to it as a 'pool worm' (she had already said she didn't understand what I was talking about when I asked for a pool noodle)

No, "politically incorrect" is always used by people as a disclaimer for their racism. Also "I guess that's politically correct" (in a sneering manner).

As DP says "No, it's not 'politically correct', it's just 'correct'"

I think the reprehensible way the Commons has just voted to reject the HoL amendments and reduce EU nationals living here to bargaining chips is pretty fucking politically incorrect, in the literal sense of the two words. Does that count?