Politically Correct, Softly-Softly Language & an "offensive" Lamb Commercial - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 08:23:51 am
content: Something I don't understand these days...After reading a news article today about a tragic accident that happened in Australia, it got me thinking how weird some of the language used by Professionals and Emergency Services is today.Examples:"... injuries were so severe they were incompatible with life."= Their injuries were so severe that the patient died."... is assisting Police with their enquiries."= ...is a suspect and is being questioned by Police."Child sex offender"= PaedophileIt reminds me of the "bullshit bingo" game in the private sector. And apparently some people were offended by this Lamb commercial because it was "racist towards white Australians"... I'll let you try to work out why that may be.

author: NottheDan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 10:48:07 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on October 25, 2016, 09:42:38 amNo, it is not. It is a liability issue. They are careful about avoiding pronouncing a cause-effect relationship between the injuries and the patient's death.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 11:11:01 am
content: Very simple: if it is politically correct, it is incorrect.Political correctness fundamentally is suppression of free expression. Nazis did that.

author: AntiProtonBoy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 01:34:08 pm
content: Quote from: Halcyon on October 25, 2016, 08:23:51 amThe first one is just plain silly, but I never heard anyone say it that way?The third example is not exactly synonymous. One can be charged with offences of that nature without being a paedophile.edit: grammar fix

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 01:47:55 pm
content: Quote from: Halcyon on October 25, 2016, 08:23:51 amI reckon it's gold! I hadn't seen that before. Thanks.

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 02:03:02 pm
content: politics = "the way of doing everything by simply doing nothing at all, in order to make your supporter believe in a better future, while you steal money from them"I think that is the real essence of politics. Politics speaks and do nothing while making you believe they really want to change things, while the only change they want resides in their bank accounts.Don't even waste time on politics: it's hard to stay away from it because there's a lot of psychology involved, but be smarter than them: do not waste your time on stupid things like debates, it's not worth it.

author: Cerebus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 02:06:11 pm
content: Quote from: AntiProtonBoy on October 25, 2016, 01:34:08 pmI think that's one of those where peculiar patterns of "official speech" than just develops and then gets copied over time.The classic style once (and possibly still) used by the British police is "I was undertaking my duties while proceeding along Veryordinary Road when I observed the suspect who is now know to me as Mr Jones" instead of saying "I was walking along Veryordinary Road and I saw Mr. Jones".I think it happened with the British police because they have traditionally been ordinary working class people who found themselves thrust into the very formal and highly educated courts system and they felt they were letting the side down if they spoke plain "rough" English when everybody else sounded so posh. Basically they were doing a serious job, wanted to be taken seriously, so copied the speech patterns, as they saw them, of their "betters" who were also doing the job. The Superintendent would copy the lawyers, the Inspector would copy the Superintendent, the Sergeant would copy the Inspector and the Constables would copy the Sergeant, everything changing a little at each step in that game of Chinese whispers until it developed into the style that it did.As far as "assisting Police with their enquiries" is concerned: I was sitting in an interview room in an East London police station giving a statement as a witness, when a policeman came in and wanted to discuss something with the policeman who was interviewing me. He obviously wanted to talk about something that he didn't want to discuss in front of a suspect. The copper who was interviewing me said to him "It's OK, this gentleman is just helping us with our inquiries." So, the British police at least, do use that formulation to mean literally "helping" as well as "We don't have enough on him to nick him yet".

author: NottheDan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 02:35:44 pm
content: Quote from: dannyf on October 25, 2016, 11:11:01 amThe Nazis also collected taxes, built roads, made the trains run and delivered the milk.

author: richard.cs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 03:07:49 pm
content: Quote from: AntiProtonBoy on October 25, 2016, 01:34:08 pmAnd in reverse, someone can have the psychological characteristic and not act on it, thus not committing any criminal offence.

author: Cerebus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 03:08:42 pm
content: Quote from: NottheDan on October 25, 2016, 02:35:44 pmI think you're being a little unfair to dannyf here. God knows, dannyf baiting could be made into a a national sport and I can confess to the occasional temptation to push his buttons and see which direction he shoots off in; but I resist, and so should you.The Nazis were very very bad people. For the most part the "politically correct" are merely naughty little girls and boys but that doesn't mean we should indulge or pamper them. The PC movement are exactly the people who seem to be behind the insane proposals in Canada and other places that go beyond mere ugly mangling of language and move firmly into the territory of genuinely dangerous suppression of what is permitted to be said or discussed. If someone wants to get offended with me because I don't use the right precise word that suits their sensibilities this month, that's fine. To propose making me a criminal because I don't use the right precise word that suits their sensibilities this month is wrong, rapidly shading toward downright evil.From what I've read dannyf and I disagree on a whole raft of subjects and it's perhaps injudicious of him to use the word "Nazi" as part of this discussion. But I agree with him wholeheartedly that the whole "PC" business becomes very worrying when taken to extremes and at its logical conclusion moves toward the kind of totalitarianism that would justify comparisons with the political bogeymen of history. It's not insignificant that in Orwell's dystopian 1984, that language was one of the primary weapons of totalitarianism. So, while dannyf's choice of words might beungood, his intent appears to bedoubleplus good.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 06:15:58 pm
content: Dr. Benjamin Carson on Political Correctness: "PC is a Bad Thing"

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 06:47:22 pm
content: Quote from: NottheDan on October 25, 2016, 10:48:07 amNo, Wilfred was correct. Of course if you want to get technical the actual cause of death lies with the coroner to determine but for the purposes of a news article and everyday speak, it's nonsense. This whole liability thing with people being too scared to say things for what they are is utter bollocks!As for the lamb commercial, racism didn't even enter into my thoughts. It just really made me want to have a BBQ!

author: Nozzer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 07:11:14 pm
content: The police have to precise language in court not to sound professional but because legal discourse is very precise and a small error can affect the credibility of the evidence. If PC Dixon did not know that the defendant was called Mr Jones before he apprehended him, then he needs to state this. In Britain the trial process is a contest between the defence team and prosecution. Misplaced words can lose a case as they be used to discredit or make the jury (in indictable offences) question the veracity of the witness. They may also lead the judge to instruct the jury to disregard that witnesses evidence. Careless wording can and does lead to offenders eluding justice.Now suppose that Mr Jones was known to the police and suspected of committing one or more similar offences, as might be suggested by his modus operandi. Jones could challenge the evidence given by PC Dixon. His council could ask how could Dixon know the name of the defendant? Might this be a police set up? By Dixon stating that he only learned the identity of the defendant after he was arrested, whether that was before or after he was charged in the police station, he can close that loophole.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 07:17:21 pm
content: Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly is the winner (Musk referring to the rocket explosion)

author: Cerebus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 07:49:05 pm
content: Quote from: Nozzer on October 25, 2016, 07:11:14 pmAll that is true, but there was (and may still be) a peculiar, often almost pompous sounding, choice of words that the British police used in all communications, not just in court where precision might be called for or press communication where there might be issues of privilege or defamation. As I cited, the use of "proceeding" instead of "walking" was quite common and proceeding islessprecise than walking and conveys less information in more letters. I just offered rubbing shoulders with the legal system as a plausible excuse for this wholesale barbarian assault on the English language.

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2016, 08:17:28 pm
content: Two words about PC and what it leads to..."Demolition Man"

author: magetoo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 12:16:09 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on October 25, 2016, 08:23:51 amThis reads to me more like "the person died, and there was nothing we could have done" but spelled out more clearly.

author: NottheDan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 04:01:59 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on October 26, 2016, 02:07:19 amAnd what if they were not? What if he died of some other cause just before they turned fatal?

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 04:26:31 am
content: Quote from: NottheDan on October 26, 2016, 04:01:59 amYep. He could have been poisoned. But the only thing that is obvious at the moment is external wounds that are normally considered incompatible with life.Police are very careful with words. I once was asked to be a witness during the arrest of some robber. And they listed all the things he had on him at the time of the arrest. And none of the items were described as what they actually were. Not "a video camera", but "an object that looks like a video camera". It makes it easier later at the trial, since police are not experts on all things.

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 06:45:07 am
content: Quote from: NottheDan on October 25, 2016, 10:48:07 amIt's also a case of not saying 'what appears' to have happened - because it may upset some people if the statement says "the riders were flipped over and trapped in the mechanical conveyor system, causing amputations and horrific injuries" (apologies to those offended) but it's necessary to 'tone it down' in the wider media, because many people are shocked by lambs, teddy bears and golliwogs nowadays, and would rather not know the details.(But we have a choice of Trump -or- Clinton in the USA)

author: Moshly
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 07:04:43 am
content: Chaser has done a few relevant piss takes ->

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 07:21:22 am
content: Regarding the offensive lamb video... What does all that stuff have to do with lamb anyway?

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 07:42:32 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on October 25, 2016, 08:23:51 amOr a an innocent witness.QuoteThat could easily be interpreted to be a child who has committed a sexual offence.And as far as the original video is concerned: the meat which doesn't discriminate: well except for vegetarians.

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 12:03:41 pm
content: Quote from: magetoo on October 26, 2016, 12:16:09 amIt was actually explained fairly well in an associated news piece. It specifically means the injuries were such that there was no chance of any form of resuscitation succeeding, therefore no further medical treatment was attempted. Different to attempting CPR for half an hour while they were transported to hospital and pronounced DOA.Basically what SL4P said.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 12:54:56 pm
content: On the subject of odd words, I've recently noticed a lot of use of the wordsurvivor, when they actually meanvictim. In my opinion, surviving something implies that others didn't survive.

author: vodka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 03:53:49 pm
content: Quote from: steve30 on October 26, 2016, 12:54:56 pmAlthought the survivor sounds very bad , certain it is clarifier , we always know that he or she is lived. On change , when the journalists use the word "victim" we never can know the true victim's states.The victim may be dead, injured, raped, lived,dismembered, even the victim might be on various states on both same time. Such as the Schrödinger's paradox.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 04:16:15 pm
content: Quote from: vodka on October 26, 2016, 03:53:49 pmOr the "victim" may simply "offended" because they are too stupid to understand their own language.For example:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_%22niggardly%22#David_Howard_incidentQuote from: AcHmed99 on October 26, 2016, 11:18:20 amToo good for politics.Quote

author: nessatse
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 06:37:30 pm
content: Quote from: AcHmed99 onTodayat 13:18:20He also happens to be a young earth creationist, anti abortion, climate change denier, to name just a few of his other qualities. Sort of puts a damper on his anti PC qualities, for me at least

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2016, 03:52:28 am
content: Quote from: SL4P on October 26, 2016, 06:45:07 amOh noes! You have combined threads! Don't cross the streams!Quote from: nessatse on October 26, 2016, 06:37:30 pmYou mean a hipocrit then?

author: AntiProtonBoy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2016, 04:54:42 am
content: Quote from: Hero999 on October 26, 2016, 07:42:32 amBut practically never is interpreted that way.

author: Cerebus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2016, 11:20:50 am
content: Quote from: AntiProtonBoy on October 27, 2016, 04:54:42 amSadly not true. I'm aware of some quite well known cases in the UK and the US. So, hardly ever, but sometimes.