Australian zoo relabels "fairy penguins" in an excess of PC

[Wilson Gray]

My guess is that it'll be "ferry" in those dialects that don't distinguish
between "ferry" and "fairy," as in St. Louis BE, in which "fairy" and
"ferry" both rhyme with "Larry." ;-)

-Wilson



On 4/16/06, Brenda Lester <alphatwin2002 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Brenda Lester <alphatwin2002 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Australian zoo relabels "fairy penguins" in an excess of
> PC
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Tinkerbell
>   Tooth Fairy
>   Faerie Queene
>
>   What next?
>
>
> "Mark A. Mandel" <mamandel at LDC.UPENN.EDU> wrote:  Penguins lose 'fairy'
> tag
> From: The Sunday Mail (Qld)
> By Hannah Davies
>
> April 16, 2006
>
>
> THEME park bosses have re-named their colony of fairy penguins amid fears
> they could upset the gay community.
>
> Managers at Sea World, on the Gold Coast, are now calling the species
> "little penguins" in case associations with the word "fairy" offend
> visitors
> to the park.
>
> "We didn't have any complaints about the name of the penguins, but someone
> thought they could be seen as offensive so we decided to change it to
> little
> penguin instead," a Sea World spokeswoman said. "We just didn't want to
> upset the gay community. The new name is more politically correct."
>
> However, Queensland's gay community and other zoos which keep fairy
> penguins
> described the name change as ridiculous and unnecessary.
>
>         --------------------
>
> full story: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18823845-1248,00.html
>
>
> -- Mark A. Mandel
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls.  Great
> rates starting at 1¢/min.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org