Monday, August 24, 2009

Quangos blackball ... oops, sorry ... veto ‘racist’ everyday phrases - Times Online

Quangos blackball ... oops, sorry ... veto ‘racist’ everyday phrases - Times Online

It could be construed as a black day for the English language — but not if you work in the public sector.

Dozens of quangos and taxpayer-funded organisations have ordered a purge of common words and phrases so as not to cause offence.

Among the everyday sayings that have been quietly dropped in a bid to stamp out racism and sexism are “whiter than white”, “gentleman’s agreement”, “black mark” and “right-hand man”.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has advised staff to replace the phrase “black day” with “miserable day”, according to documents released under freedom of information rules.

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