A friend of mine gave me a book the other day…quite by chance; or not. I was given a copy of the book The Language Police. I have only had the chance to peruse it, but I have come across a couple of interesting paragraphs, one of which I’d like to share with you.

The goal of the language police is not just to stop us from using objectionable words but to stop us from having objectionable thoughts. The language police believe that reality follows language usage. If they can stop people from ever seeing offensive words and ideas, they can prevent them from having the thought or committing the act that the words signify. If they never read a story about suicide or divorce, then they will never even think about killing themselves or ending their marriage. If they abolish words that have man as a prefix or suffix, then women will achieve equality. If children read and hear only language that has been cleansed of any mean or hurtful words, they will never have a mean or hurtful thought. With enough censorship, the language police might create a perfect world.

Let us, at last, fire the language police. We don’t need them. Let them return to the precincts where speech is rationed, thought is imprisoned, and humor is punished” (The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn, Diane Ravitch, 158-159, 170)

I agree.

Tags: censorship, language, The Language Police