Summary
While the views about the use of language expressed by Dan O'Neill (Echo, March 13) may seem plausible, I would like to add one or two caveats. Words alone need not be the problem. It would more often be the tone of voice which is adopted when they are used in speech, and above all the context of their use, either in speech or writing. What puzzles me about the use of language is how the polite terms of one generation may be ruled out 30 years later.
When I was growing up, negro was considered polite and respectable, whereas nigger had been impolite for ages; black was also considered rude a generation or so ago, although Africans themselves are now sometimes happy to espouse this simple descriptive term.See the full content of this document
Extract
Polite Words Now Taboo
This in spite o...
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