Politically correct

I found much too much info about political correctness on google. Much of it came from the conservative side of the fence. It seems to be a term they, not we, coined.

Since I didn't want to wade through page after page of their tripe, I settled for Wikipedia which at least shows some balance.

When I refer to myself as vertically challenged rather than short, I'm being politically correct. I'm also being a little silly. P. C. has both its good and bad sides and the article seems to set out both of them.

I can't even keep up with the correct terminology for my great-granddaughter's cerebral palsy. Is she handicapped? Disabled? Orthopedically challenged? I keep seeing new, more correct verbiage. She walks with crutches outside the house and uses a wheelchair at school. Some say otherabled. I just can't tie myself in those kind of knots; therefore, I'm sometimes politically incorrect. She refers to herself as handicapped but she doesn't let it slow her down. To her the word doesn't matter. Maybe as she grows older, it will.

On the other hand, language is important and the words we use, even when well meaning, can hurt. Hearing impaired rather than deaf (or worse, deaf & dumb) went a long way toward opening doors. Much of the old language needed to be retired along with the thinking that produced it.

I'll just go on doing the best I can with the English language and hope people understand my feelings even if my words may not always be as correct as they should be.

Ann