| Why Don't Liberals Just Say What They Mean? A handy translation table from Liberal P.C. Doublespeak and code words to plain English |
|
| When they say... | They really mean... |
| multiculturalism, diversity, fairness, equity, inclusion, inclusiveness, opportunity, empowerment |
racial quotas, discrimination against whites, special rights and preferential treatment for protected minorities, the exclusion of white males |
| multicultural, inclusive |
the exclusion of heterosexual male caucasians. |
| diverse | non-white |
| community initiatives | handouts and services for minorities only |
| community organizer | agitator, troublemaker, radical, anarchist |
| community, grassroots |
low-income
citizens, "victimized" minorities, small parasitic organizations |
| federal family | Big Brother |
| community education | spreading propaganda |
| alliance | liberal organization |
| affirmative action, minority enterprise development, minority business development, disadvantaged business utilization, equal opportunity, diversity programs |
racial quotas, discrimination against whites, minority hiring quotas, lowered standards |
| rainforest | jungle |
| wetland | swamp |
| the founders | the Founding Fathers |
| ancestors | forefathers |
| revenue measure, deficit reduction, raising revenues, balanced approach, revenue enhancements, balancing, progressive revenue, contribution, inflow |
taxes |
| transfer station, landfill |
city dump |
| troubled inner-city youth at-risk teen |
gang leader, juvenile felon, thug, dope dealer, pimp, mugger |
| sex trade worker | prostitute, whore, stripper, slut, tramp, hooker, hussy, harlot |
| sexual minorities | sexual deviates, perverts |
| hard of seeing, visually challenged, people with blindness, visually impaired, visually limited, sightless |
the blind (There is no shame in blindness, so why not just say "blind"?) |
| activists, advocates, advocacy group |
troublemakers |
| progressive | liberal, radical, leftist |
| vegan | vegetarian, Earth worshipper |
| fiancee | this month's roommate |
| "worked courageously" | was arrested while picketing |
| Aleut, Inuit | Eskimo |
| Native Americans | Indians. (Native Hawaiians are native Americans, but they're never called "Native Americans".) |
| undocumented workers, "foreign-born" population, out of status, migrant workers |
illegal immigrants, illegal aliens |
| comprehensive immigration reform | amnesty for illegal immigrants |
| reproductive
rights, choice, reproductive choice, reproductive freedom, reproductive health care, fetal rights, women's rights |
abortion, fetal homicide |
| pregnancy prevention | childbirth prevention |
| sexually active | promiscuous |
| edgy, irreverent, pushing the envelope, cutting edge, hip, bold, smart, sophisticated, offbeat |
compliments used to describe vulgar, offensive, profane, brazen, blasphemous or obscene entertainment venues, TV programs, movies or Hollywood personalities |
| client, homeless, residentially challenged, street person, disadvantaged, disenfranchised |
bum, hobo, derelict, vagrant, drunkard, beggar, drifter, tramp, vagabond, panhandler |
| food insecure households | those who are too lazy to work |
| urban sprawl | progress, growth, prosperity, suburbs, commuters |
| left behind | anything that escapes the scrutiny, control, and taxation of the federal government |
| light pollution | Such an abundance of affordable electric energy that many homes, highways and places of business are brightly illuminated at night. Seemingly impossible in Communist countries. |
| raping the earth | Drilling
for oil, Cutting down a tree, Hunting, Fishing, Mining, Eating a steak, Buying a large automobile or minivan, Wearing anything made of fur or leather |
| suboptimal outcome negative gain deferred success |
academic
failure F you flunked |
| This is a time to put politics aside | YOU put YOUR politics aside, and we will politicize the crisis du jour |
| When they mention... | They're talking about... |
| sustainable economy part of something larger shared responsibility access democracy living wage laws economic justice affordable housing giving back to the community everyone shared in that success this will require common effort earnings inequality power to the people democracy the struggle wealth concentration |
socialism Marxism redistribution of wealth |
| sustainable
development, environmental rights, corporate pressure tactics, corporate social responsibility |
anti-development, anti-industry, anti-property, anti-technology environmentalism |
| balanced solution | increased government power |
| raising awareness | raising money |
| glaucoma | legalizing marijuana |
| fairness | higher taxes for the middle class, redistribution of wealth |
| solidarity, empowerment, join the struggle |
anti-capitalism, collectivism, socialism, anarchy |
| judgmental, extremist, hate speech, venom, bigotry, prejudice, the religious right, religious extremists |
religious
objections to homosexuality, religious objections to abortion, any favorable discussion of conservatism |
| for the children, it takes a village, for our future, Goals 2000, Agenda 21, socialization, School to Work, Life-Long Learning, outcome-based education, behavior modification, leave no child behind, children at risk |
cradle-to-grave
socialism, indoctrination disguised as education, collectivist group-think instead of individual achievement, conformity instead of individualism |
| social responsibility | high taxes |
| cultural proficiency | amnesty for illegal
aliens affirmative action special rights for selected minorities |
| giving back to the community | taxing the rich guilt-tripping a lottery winner, corporate executive, or overpaid athlete |
| human rights | Marxism, socialism |
| mainstreaming, inclusiveness, under-represented |
special rights and privileges for minorities and homosexuals |
| community medical services | condoms, needle exchanges, abortion on demand |
| gender reassignment | sex change operations |
| meaningful coverage universal health care |
socialized medicine |
| visibility, mobilizing, creative confrontation |
picketing |
| direct action | violent eco-terrorism |
| equality, equal rights |
better-than-equal rights preferential treatment |
| watchdog | lobbyist |
| assault weapons, gun violence solutions, gun shows, violence prevention, cop-killer bullets, senseless gun violence, saner gun policies |
gun control, banning all gun ownership disarming the law-abiding populace |
| infrastructure, community development | increased
spending, dependence on big government |
| Women's health choices | killing an inconvenient baby |
| world class, global citizenship, global village, Olympics, United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Charter for Global Democracy, International Court of Justice |
world-wide standards, world government, world-wide socialism |
| tolerance, inclusion, acceptance, open-mindedness, understanding |
approval and endorsement of perverse, deviant lifestyles |
| ||
