Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Photo / AP
Opinion
Trump. It's not the hair that keeps me watching, it's the chat. It's the fact so many Americans are happy to accept his descriptions of women as "dogs", "slobs" and "pigs", because he defends himself by blaming political correctness.
True, it's not politically correct to call anyone a slob. But
it is also just plain ugly, cruel, childish and not especially presidential. Can you imagine the same thing in New Zealand? Not even Winnie would try that on.
But the PC-Gone-Mad argument gets wheeled out at any opportunity. It's tired and, most often in politics, it's an acknowledgement of personal bigotry rather than a legitimate defence. Well, normally, anyway.
Except new life has been breathed into PC-Gone-Madness by the emergence of a Bias-free Language Guide published by staff and students of the University of New Hampshire. You can't call people "fat" any more. We're all up with that. But, according to the guide, you can't call them "overweight", either.
"People of size" is the recommended term.
