aibu to think no woman would be offended by the phrase "gentlemans agreement"

[daftpunk]

some other phrases the PC brigade want banned;

black day

right hand man

oh, and whiter than white

lololo

Loads of athletes at the Berlin games last week did the sign of the cross before racing/competing - one of the sprinters runs with his crucifix in his mouth.

Well, if it was meant to provoke discussion, it did - but only so far as "stop being so bloody ridiculous".

The general consensus was that it was a misguided attempt to be terribly PC.

pityssake;

you are denying alot of this goes on....you need to get your head out of the sand..

madameDefarge I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of some people should monitor and amend what others are allowed to say, or the implication that the majority of the population were evilly racist in the 80's.

Are you putting yourself forward to set out the guidelines in this Thoughtpolice force?

Chief Inspector Defarge of the Thought Police, at your service

Hang on Bitoffun, your link says that it was in Birmingham council guidelines that schools should not teach Baa baa black sheep and the guidance was scrapped after black parents complained.
How does that show it didn't happen?

Thing is, there is no such thing as the PC brigade, but there are a lot of individuals going around putting rules in place because they think it's a good idea without them always being very sensible or well-informed.

Like the 'Muslims ban Christmas' story that as someone said below, comes up every year. When you look at the actual story there are never any Muslims involved but there is generally a germ of truth involving some well-meaning or idiotic manager banning decorations in order to try to get brownie points by being more PC than everyone else in the organisation.

Lol hope the pay's good

It is perfectly possible for a woman to be a Chief Inspector, you know.

Unless of course, you're twirling your 80's-feminist-will-not-be-waxed-under-any-circumstance moustache

for you pityssake

i dont make things up....

Are you poking fun at my lovely moustache? It has taken ages to grow.

Tragically the pay is dreadful, but I do it for the love of humanity.....

The blackboard thing is a myth surely? Or at least not widespread. I always said blackboard, and now I, along with everyone else in teaching, say whiteboard. Why would one be dodgy and not the other?

Haven't been able to say 'blackboard'?.....

I can say it "Blackboard! Blackboard! BllaaaaclBorrrrd!" Ha! See? "Blaaaaaackbrrd. Blackboooooord" See i can even say it in ab humorous manner. And nothing happened to me. I thumb my nose at the PC brigade!

Hang on...who's that thundering on my door. No! It's the PC brigade. Quick.... I might just make it out the backdoor. Farewell MN! I am making a bid for freedom and the right to offend with hindrance.....

CI Defarge, I salute your selflessness and devotion to the cause

TheFallenMadonna, they're called 'chalkboards' now I believe.

If its in the paper then it must be true...

Load of bollocks non story. And what is wrong with conciously examining our use of language anyway? There are a huge amount of words and phrases that used to be common usage that are now widely accepted to be inappropriate. Isn't it a good thing that we no longer lazily rely on outdated and offensive terminology?

The people who make up this nonsense about banning blackboard and such are usually the people who are upset that they can't be as offensive as they like with impunity. Turning it into "them" telling us what we are allowed to say is utter nonsense and is crying "PC gorn maaad" is generally the the hallmark of a bigot.

Language is powerful, lets not pretend otherwise. A bit of perspectiev though.....

Fact is, there are very few blackboard in classrooms any more. They are all whiteboards now

I'd be astonished to see one now TBH. Mine has certainly been replaced with a whiteboard. But while it was there, a blackboard it was. And I've nevre heard of it being a chalkboard anywhere but in these kinds of rants. And maybe the odd London school...

Both my DD's have sung various versions of bah bah black sheep as explained in this article linked to by DP and i'd hazard a guess it for the reason given in the text below and not for PC reasons, it s short song, easy to learn and therefore you can sub in different colours and i think DD2's class even sub in different animals e.g. moo moo brown cow have you any milk, its all about learning through song.

"They sing happy, sad, bouncing, hopping, pink, blue, black & white sheep etc and they also exchange boy and girl at the end of the rhyme. This encourages the children to extend their vocabulary and use up some energy"

An example of that would be

" Words PC Brigade want banned" is just another way of saying "Public officials seek ways in which to minimise public offense in communications"

Just makes it clear what that particular person thinks of the issue, not, not necessarily reflects what is actually going on.

The power of words indeed.

katz;

do you think the story of snow white would be changed..?

the baa baa black sheep thing has happened. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4782856.stm

i'm 100% straight MD......none of that homosexual stuff for me..

DP - doubt it but due to the gender imbalance in the story it shouldn't be read to young impressionable minds!