Perils of trying to avoid offending people...

One of the sites I like to keep up with is Language Log. They have some interesting topics over there. I particularly liked yesterdays. It is hard for a non-minority to figure out the proper terminology when talking to or about minorities. Language is always changing and what one day is acceptable can quickly become derogatory the next. The theme of the post was trying to avoid the appearance of evil. Which in general is a good way to live your life. There is a point though where political correctness gets out of hand. We sometimes go to far in the other direction trying so hard not to offend that we end up being offensive. And with language having so many nuances misunderstandings will always occur. The trick it is to be honest and open so when a problem does happen the other person will not be so quick to be offended. As a last part I loved the author's point about growing up a Cleveland Indians fan (I highlighted the paragraph). I definitely am one also. I loved how when he went to Montana he saw a number of Indians there wearing Cleveland Indians hats. Every year we have protesters at the games decrying the image of Chief Wahoo. It was nice to see that there are real Indians who are not offended by it. Yes, I realize there will always be people offended no matter what we do...