[Ads-l] politically correct geography

[Peter Reitan]

Politically correct botanical taxonomy.


The Irvine Ranch Conservancy, which manages the Irvine Ranch National Natural Landmark lands, has renamed a wildflower in order to avoid raising a red flag in their requests for funds.  They receive state and federal subsidies for protecting and nurturing wild "flowers" but not "weeds," and the bureaucracy is inflexibly literal.


So they renamed "Deer weed" as "California broom"; and apparently it worked.


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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2017 3:51 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: politically correct geography

---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      politically correct geography
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We know by now that it's "East Asia" not "the Orient" and that it's vital
to write "Kosovo" with one S, not two. If you're talking about South Korea
(not North), the Sea of Japan is "the East Sea."  The "Persian Gulf" is now
the "Arabian Gulf," because not only is there no longer any "Persia," an
"Iranian Gulf" sounds like a territorial claim by the wrong side.Two
hundred years ago the "German Ocean" became the "North Sea."

Still I was surprised to hear a UK official mention "the British Channel."

JL



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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