# Define "Politically Correct" + Give 2 examples in your life worth raging at **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 15, 2018, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993 "2018-10-15T18:03:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/61 "2018-10-15T23:17:25Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > You mean like the governor of Florida denying the existence of climate change, and forbidding persons in the FL government using the terms “climate change” or “global warming”? > > Seems to fit your definition to a T. (That’s not a complaint about your definition; it’s ideologically neutral, which I think is a necessary component of an honest definition of political correctness, so it’s a reasonable definition.) It’s just funny how, given a neutral definition, there’s a metric ton of stuff on the right that seems to fit. > > I think the previous governor of NC pulled the same stunt as well. I hate to make your argument for you on this. But this is actually an illegal attempt to overturn the first amendment. Suggesting that he was being PC is a bit of an understatement. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/62 "2018-10-15T23:23:12Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Are you Bill Maher? Otherwise, I’m not sure how political correctness has affected your life from your post. Maybe you can elaborate. It’s filled me with a burning… No. I’ve seethed with… No. I’ve felt some occasional mild irritation. Yup ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/63 "2018-10-15T23:27:46Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > I’ve felt some occasional mild irritation. Well, that’s a relief. From your dire forebodings on the previous page about political correctness allegedly making it _“difficult and inadvisable for people to have frank and important conversations for fear of running afoul of whatever is currently the offends me flavor of the week, dampening actual communication, and increasing social rifts”_, I didn’t realize that what you were talking about was merely occasional mild irritation. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/64 "2018-10-15T23:37:38Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > It’s filled me with a burning… > > No. > I’ve seethed with… > > No. > > I’ve felt some occasional mild irritation. > > Yup I think they make a topical cream for that. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/65 "2018-10-15T23:40:22Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Well, that’s a relief. From your dire forebodings on the previous page about political correctness allegedly making it _“difficult and inadvisable for people to have frank and important conversations for fear of running afoul of whatever is currently the offends me flavor of the week, dampening actual communication, and increasing social rifts”_, I didn’t realize that what you were talking about was merely occasional mild irritation. Egregious examples of PC behavior have actually left me miffed. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/66 "2018-10-15T23:40:34Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > That’s almost exactly correct. They’re not invoking social justice though, so it’s not PC, though it’s every bit as bad. Ah, so though it’s every bit as bad, you simply define PC in a way that makes it a left-only thing. If you’re doing behavior X in support of lefty goals, it’s PC, but the same behavior in support of righty goals isn’t. So you’re playing stupid, meaningless word games when you talk about PC. That’s fine. Have a good time. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/67 "2018-10-15T23:41:44Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I think they make a topical cream for that. Thanks to your PC bullshit, I can’t eat Mexican anymore. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/68 "2018-10-15T23:43:24Z")
Was the whole “Freedom Fries” thing political correctness, or political **in** correctness? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/69 "2018-10-15T23:45:02Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > I hate to make your argument for you on this. But this is actually an illegal attempt to overturn the first amendment. Wait a second, the First Amendment guarantees my right to say anything I want on the job, without getting fired? Seriously, if this was a First Amendment case, the ACLU would have been on it in a heartbeat. I think you misunderstand its reach. I think I got it right the first time. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/70 "2018-10-15T23:45:41Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Thanks to your PC bullshit, I can’t eat Mexican anymore. Unless you mean to say you can’t eat Mexican **s** anymore, I am having a hard time fathoming how your ability to eat Mexican food might be impacted by people choosing to refer to things with polite terms. Does listening to polite terms give you a tummyache or something? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/71 "2018-10-15T23:47:42Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > It’s filled me with a burning… > > No. > I’ve seethed with… > > No. > > I’ve felt some occasional mild irritation. > > Yup Yes, haha. I’m not the OP, but I don’t _think_ he meant, “when did reading about PC annoy you?” Rather, have you been in a situation where having to be politically correct really affected you in a way worth raging at. I gave some examples where I changed my behavior (Oriental-\>Asian, for example), but it didn’t really annoy me at all – I just substitute the new word for the old. Same thing with stewardess-\>flight attendant, and many other simple substitutions. When I was a child, if there was a fight, we had this really racist chant that I’m sure my kids would never do; however, my kids not being able to chant this really racist thing is not filling me with rage at all. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/72 "2018-10-15T23:50:00Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Unless you mean to say you can’t eat Mexican **s** anymore, I am having a hard time fathoming how your ability to eat Mexican food might be impacted by people choosing to refer to things with polite terms. Does listening to polite terms give you a tummyache or something? I guess that one taco truck that shut down after their owners said something stupid was the only source of Mexican food for him. Maybe he could ask the owners to make him some tacos on the sly. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/73 "2018-10-15T23:51:30Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Was the whole “Freedom Fries” thing political correctness, or political **in** correctness? Political correctness is whatever lefties do, and political incorrectness is whatever righties do. :rolleyes: So the latter. ETA: not rolling my eyes at you, **begbert** , but rather at the people who clearly define it that way. Just wanted to prevent any misunderstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/74 "2018-10-15T23:55:44Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Ah, so though it’s every bit as bad, you simply define PC in a way that makes it a left-only thing. If you’re doing behavior X in support of lefty goals, it’s PC, but the same behavior in support of righty goals isn’t. > > So you’re playing stupid, meaningless word games when you talk about PC. That’s fine. Have a good time. Actually, I think you are just being touchy and we have a simple misunderstanding. I think PC is a left thing because of that social justice justification that is usually absent from the right. It’s like fries with ketchup. When the right does it it’s mostly hold the ketchup. Both are still fries. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/75 "2018-10-15T23:57:30Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Political correctness is whatever lefties do, and political incorrectness is whatever righties do. :rolleyes: > > So the latter. > > ETA: not rolling my eyes at you, **begbert** , but rather at the people who clearly define it that way. Just wanted to prevent any misunderstanding. Well, putting aside the biased definitions, the term does seem to straddle the boundary. It was explicitly instantiated for political reasons, making the use of it “politically correct” (at least by the original, soviet russia ([yep](https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/historical-origin-political-correctness)) definition), but it’s also quite explicitly racist (or whatever) against the French, which is pretty much the opposite of how modern political correctness works. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/76 "2018-10-15T23:58:06Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Unless you mean to say you can’t eat Mexican **s** anymore, I am having a hard time fathoming how your ability to eat Mexican food might be impacted by people choosing to refer to things with polite terms. Does listening to polite terms give you a tummyache or something? A mild irritation that can be helped with a topical cream? Think man! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/77 "2018-10-16T00:01:41Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > I think PC is a left thing because of that social justice justification that is usually absent from the right. It’s like fries with ketchup. When the right does it it’s mostly hold the ketchup. Both are still fries. The right-wing version frequently has a patriotism justification. Like, you have to call french fries “freedom fries” if France isn’t on board with your Iraq invasion, or you have to get all horrified if (black) pro athletes protest police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem, or if the Dixie Chicks criticize the (Republican) President during a concert. So maybe the right-wing kind should be called “Patriotic Correctness”. (Or “Pecuniary Correctness” in the case of things right-wingers get all bothered about because they’re afraid it might lose them money, such as alluding to sea-level rise due to climate change in coastal regions.) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/78 "2018-10-16T00:06:29Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > PC is denying reality and attempting to silence others in order to advance an ideological orthodoxy. Like when Hillary called Trump’s supporters deplorables? Or when the Obama administration released a report saying conservative white men were a major risk factor for domestic terrorism? Or when people call Trump treasonous and his supporters a cult? ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/79 "2018-10-16T00:08:14Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Wait a second, the First Amendment guarantees my right to say anything I want on the job, without getting fired? > > Seriously, if this was a First Amendment case, the ACLU would have been on it in a heartbeat. I think you misunderstand its reach. I think I got it right the first time. I would have thought it would be a different issue in the public sector. Maybe not, who cares? I consider PC mostly trivial. Your example rises beyond that. Stop being so picky! ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993/80 "2018-10-16T00:12:12Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > The right-wing version frequently has a patriotism justification. Like, you have to call french fries “freedom fries” if France isn’t on board with your Iraq invasion, or you have to get all horrified if (black) pro athletes protest police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem, or if the Dixie Chicks criticize the (Republican) President during a concert. Yes!!! Thank you. That is exactly it > [@](#): > > So maybe the right-wing kind should be called “Patriotic Correctness”. (Or “Pecuniary Correctness” in the case of things right-wingers get all bothered about because they’re afraid it might lose them money, such as alluding to sea-level rise due to climate change in coastal regions.) Again thank you. This is exactly right. Political correctness on the left, Patriot correctness on the right. I was trying to get at something like this, but the idea was not completely baked. Well done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-politically-correct-give-2-examples-in-your-life-worth-raging-at/822993.md?page=5)