Quote:
|
Greg, I respectfully disagree. To me the term "political correctness" strongly foregrounds, by its very terminology, the notion of political. It seems impossible to disentangle and expunge the notion of politics from it, and the strong primary meaning of conforming to someone's political agenda.
|
Paul, maybe I didn't make myself clear. I agree that the term "political correctness" has all those connotations. What I am saying is that I have never heard anyone use the term other than derogatorily. However, very often it seems to me that what people are stigmatising as "political correctness" ("political correctness gone mad" is the commonest usage, at least in UK journalism) is simply what used to be referred to as courtesy - the unwillingness to give unnecessary and unwarranted offence by your behaviour or language.