THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 22, 1994 TAG: 9408220063
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Often as not a reprimand dressed in terms of ``political correctness'' puts me into a state of mulish rebellion.
The drive for political correctness is so pervasive now that the stylish, politically correct way to refer to it is simply PC, by its initials.
I just can't utter the short, fashionable form. It seems to convey an air of expertise, an instant intelligence, that isn't mine on any topic, except corn pone, which nobody talks about and very few eat.
Why, it was weeks before I caught on to what people meant when they threw ``PC'' around in conversation.
The last time I comprehended PC it stood for ``privileged character,'' applied to a big shot on the campus.
At heart, in its most constructive practice, the campaign for political correctness is a way of sensitizing us to the feelings of others, especially members of minority groups. That's to the good.
But sometimes PC is a bludgeon, a form of censorship even, to make others conform to the user's views.
Sometimes, the product of PC is just silly, as with the example supplied by Jack Palmer of Virginia Beach. He heard someone refer to a freshman in college as a ``freshperson.''
Why, in conversation you cannot escape leaving a space, or pause, between the two words so that ``fresh person,'' could be construed as a person who is cheeky or impudent.
Palmer, who retired a decade or so ago as a commander in the Royal Navy, also is uncomfortable with the term ``chairperson,'' as am I.
Nor can you say ``chairwoman'' without bringing to mind the specific occupation of a cleaning ``charwoman.''
It's possible to say someone ``chaired'' a committee, but as to references to the official in charge, I guess the only way around the awkward phrasing is always to elect men to head committees, a course from which chaos would ensue. Life is seldom easy in a politically correct society.
But with a little luck, writes Palmer, ``we may persuade our favorite newscasters to say `lanjeree' instead of `lonjeray'' for lingerie, and to learn that some words are pronounced differently when they are a noun and when they are a verb - `permit' and `produce' have the emphasis on the first syllable as nouns, and on the second syllable as verbs, in true English.''
He concedes, however that no matter how loudly he says it in church, ``I will never convince the rest of a Virginian congregation that `wrath' rhymes either with `moth' or `rawth' but never with `math.' ''
In talking with Palmer, one must be aware that nothing escapes his quick ear or eye. He wrote in the first place to chide me for preferring to pronounce status as ``stat-us'' instead of ``stay-tus.''
He cites several authorities to support the use of ``stay-tus,'' as did several of you; and I stand, or lie, corrected. by CNB