[DaveinGermany]

The point being raised is not so much to do with a word in a book, or for that matter a comment made but the ever increasing level of censorship & enforced change being heaped onto the public at large because someone somewhere finds something offensive.

Admittedly the writings of Twain & Shakespeare were used as examples, but they are not the definitive issue here being discussed. The main focus is about perceived offence, how far are we going to go or allow things to go ? It seems as though in UK you can't have an opinion (free speech) to say something without someone getting upset & feeling offended, demeaned or victimised !

We've had a prime example within the pages of Accy web itself in the not so distant past, the word "P'key" became an issue for one or two people & as such became a non word, outlawed for general use & this is the heart of the issue. Should someone get upset at the word "Muppet" & it's conceived connotations what then ? Is that to be banned ? And before you say "Well that's just stupid, it can't happen ..... can it ?" have a think back over your life time, words we've used in everyday parlance, banned because someone somewhere didn't think it "nice" or "right".

If you still can't see it here are some examples to think about, growing up if you did something stupid or couldn't get a grip of a concept you'd be labelled a "Mong" short for Mongaloid = Down syndrome, in our house it's a common enough epithet for someone doing something stupid :-
I was putting tins over the veg in a shopping bag (last year !) a family member called me a mong, I just grinned the checkout girl was mortified & said "You can't say that !"

Talking in a pub with friends about getting fleeced in St.Johns Market by an Asian stall holder, I said "The P@ki ripped me off !" sharp intake of breath from a neighbouring table, followed by the tsk of liberal contempt & outrage from some stranger & the muttered comment "That's disgusting what he just said !" this from a white middle class woman & I'm sure she'd of been all sweetness & light had it happened to her ?

Camp Coffee, a syrup like substance long favoured over the years by many, because of the inherent display of white superiority the label envisaged it was classed as offensive & had to be changed to suit modern sensibilities in our modern multi-culti-politically correct society.

So where & what next ? Are we to carry on being browbeaten into acceptance or will common sense prevail at some point ? I can only hope it does & people start demanding balance in all things.