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Comment by papaf | Hacker News Reader

For example, I work somewhere than no longer allows you to program the words "blacklist" or "master," and the list of terms they have in the works is hilariously impressive.

I have no problem with this. I take no pleasure in offending people and will change my language accordingly.

My problem is that I am older than my colleagues and am less likely to know what is considered offensive. I have already made big mistakes about gender identity and I am sure I will make more in future.

If people could be polite and patient instead of overreacting that would genuinely improve culture instead of turning language into a battleground.

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I have no problem with this. I take no pleasure in offending people and will change my language accordingly.

This point doesn't make sense. There's 7 billion people in the world. Everything you said will offend someone, somewhere, somewhen. Offence is truly taken, not given. The point others are trying to make is that, if you get in this spiral of changing words and meanings, you're already defeated, as there will be an endless supply of offended people, thus an endless supply of needed changes.

If people could be polite and patient instead of overreacting that would genuinely improve culture instead of turning language into a battleground

That battleground is precisely what postmodernists desire, and is fought with words. And that's why the only logical answer is to not give an inch, and ignore them.

> I take no pleasure in offending people and will change my language accordingly.

The problem is when it's not offensive, and that's why dictionaries have a half-dozen definitions for any one word. The academic cancellers in this article are not going out and burning their own Master degrees

I'm not old but i agree with you. I don't think the "cancel culture" is something meaningfull, it's just people societally liberals (calling them leftist when they mostly are dead center on economical issues hurts me) who finally understood the overton windows have been used successfully by economic liberals and fascists/nationalists[0] and using the same tactics, but honestly it is hurting people who don't want to partake in this.

[0] not a shot at them, one of the person i respect the most is fascist and have the culture to admit he is.

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