Date:  Thu, 3 Nov 1994 08:32:37 EST

From:  Wayne Glowka <wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU>

Subject: Re: offending idioms



Isn't PC just another form of the old middle class tendency toward

euphemism, you know, the kind that gave us _white meat_ and _dark meat_ and

_gentleman cow_? PC always comes across as quaint to folks who lived on

the wrong side of the expressway and know even worse terms than the

apparently innocent ones vilified by the PC.



Sometimes PC and euphemism in general can backfire: I have run into people

in Texas and Georgia who refer in the singular to a descendant of African

slaves as _a minority_--"A minority just came in here and gave me some

trouble about . . . ." The whole euphemism is lost in the sarcastic tone

of voice that frames the word. Further, I've just read about a company

that tried to produce optimism among workers by referring to problems in

production or marketing as _opportunities_. Workers began using the term

_opportunity_ in ironic ways: "I hear that he had an opportunity with his

car this morning on the way to work. Yeah, he blew out his transmission."



An educator experiencing wellness but awaiting the opportunity of passing,







Wayne Glowka

Professor of English

Director of Research and Graduate Student Services

Georgia College

Milledgeville, GA 31061

912-453-4222

wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu

BITNET Address: Wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]USCN