SOME words will cause horror if you say them, others you’re not so sure about. Here are some that are either totally fine or will get you ostracised forever.
Actress
When you were a kid everyone would refer to actors of the female gender as actresses and nobody gave a toss, but nowadays the word is a bit of a minefield. You could always say ‘female performer’ if you’re not sure but that’s a bit clunky. Best just to shut up forever.
Brainstorm
This is either hugely offensive to people with brain disorders, or the word hot-shot office workers use when coming up with cool ideas. Or at least that’s what you imagine they say. You’ve been unemployed most of your life and get all your frames of reference from daytime repeats of 90s sitcoms.
The C-word
No, not ‘crap’, the other one, Jesus. Depending on who you talk to this is either the worst word in existence or one that needs to be reclaimed as an act of female empowerment. Good luck trying to look like an ally by saying the C-word if you’re a bloke though, as anyone who overhears you will think you’re a vile misogynist.
Grammar Nazi
Used to be an acceptable way of referring to pedants who call you out on dangling participles, but now people have realised it’s a bit insensitive to drag the Holocaust into conversations about sentence structure. Use more PC alternatives, such as ‘tedious f**king wanker’.
Anything that describes ethnicity
Even if it’s the most inoffensive word relating to a person’s ethnicity, you’re not sure if you should steer clear or not. Instead pretend you’re so superior you don’t even see race. It’s cowardly but enlightened.
