Jottings
“ lesbian fun ,” and “ Pride fun ” badges .
Guide leaders have been told to learn a glossary of terms , which it calls a “ vocabulary extravaganza ,” and are advised to “ explore gender .” It suggests the use of the controversial “ gingerbread man ” graphic , previously used in the British service , which illustrates a spectrum from “ female-ness ” to “ maleness .”
Elsewhere , staff at dress-up salons in Disney ’ s theme parks are no longer called “ fairy godmothers in training .” They are now just “ apprentices ” in a change to encompass “ cast members who might not identify as female .”
The Universities of Nottingham and Bristol new style guides advise the use of “ humankind ' instead of “ mankind ” and “ workforce ” rather than “ manpower .” It says generational labels such as “ Generation X ,” “ Baby Boomers ” and “ Millennials ” can reinforce negative stereotypes , while “ able-bodied ” people should be referred to as “ non-disabled .” Also out are colloquial phrases such as “ turning a blind eye .”
A fashionable club in London ’ s Soho now offers potential members the option of defining their gender as 2S on the application form . Apparently , this stands for “ Two Spirits ” – a term for Native Americans who display both male and female characteristics .
And a Norwegian theologian has called for God to be referred to with a genderneutral pronoun . Jorunn Okland says that biblical scholars have always argued that , “ God is beyond the human ... beyond masculine and feminine .” Only God knows what they make of the idea …
Finally , before we return to the real world , your Jottings teams cannot fail to draw your attention to ( yet ) another totally unnecessary demonstration of wokeism .
For generations , the motor industry has used the terms “ master ” and “ slave ”, referring to two components which work together . But those innocent days are gone . The management at Jaguar Land Rover at its UK factory in Solihull has decided that the use of “ slave ” in this context has to go , and henceforth such components will be referred to as “ surrogate .”
The company claims that the change was “ called for by our employees ,” but shop floor workers at Solihull are distinctly unimpressed , telling reporters that , noone at the plant supports slavery and the “ stupid ” change is unnecessary . “ We just want to build great cars and go home ,” one added .
As she is spoke
Back in the day , were you a NIMBY ( Not In My Back Yard ) or were you and your partner DINKYs ( Double Income No Kids Yet )? You may have become a HENRY ( High Income Not Rich Yet ) or developed into a SKI ( Spending Kid ’ s Inheritance ).
New acronyms and neologisms are added regularly to the lexicon of slang English , and your Jottings monitors have recently spotted a couple of new examples .
The first was coined last month by journalists at The Guardian to refer to voters old enough to work for a living but who have no higher education qualifications . The paper has termed them WANDs ( Working Age No Degree ) and claims they make up 37 per cent of the British population , enough to exert a sizeable influence on the outcome of a general election .
The second was identified by Anglia Continued overleaf
25