Words reflect the mores of their time and, when they change to be more precise or considerate, it can be jarring. Homeless, for example, is gone, replaced by unhoused, which is less pejorative and more reflective of what is, one hopes, a temporary state. Same with slaves. Those people weren’t ordained into that condition by God; they were enslaved, a new - and better - term of art. One I don’t get is pregnant people, as opposed to pregnant women, but my sainted mother smoked when she was great with child. Euphemisms are a different category, of course, one in which governments excel. In war, there are no dead and wounded. Instead, we have casualties and collateral damage. One city government in my part of the world has gone to the euphemism mountain top, news that’s brought a song to my heart.
© 2024 John Oliver
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