Bob Densmore ponders the universe and words without meaning.
I just spent half an hour in a Kings Heath coffee shop this morning trying to work out which email my phone had sent, and which hadent. I think the answer was none until I walked home past the O2 aerial on the corner of Oxford Road.
I thought about sending a message saying I was having trouble mastering my phone and then thought of Cardiff Metropolitan University’s code of practice (see below) regarding gender neutral words. ‘Mastering’ anything would be out.
It’s a funny list they have produced. ‘Man made’, as in man-made fibre is out, but no mention of ‘chavs’, despite the fact that the purpose of the code is to encourage the evolution of an environment where everyone is valued, and where stereotypes are avoided.
Lancashire used to have a slogan “the place where everyone matters”… a nice thought.
Then a man living in Bold Street, Accrington died and his body wasn’t discovered for two years. despite the fact that all the houses on that road are terraces. I lodged in Bold Street for a couple of years, and Jeanette Winterson used to live there. Obviously, it was just another slogan disconnected from reality.
You could say the same about Cardiff. M. U’s list: Words, without context. Anyway, there’s a link to their list:
