Funny, but then again, not so funny...

This month's Atlantic Monthly includes an excerpt from Diane Ravitch's new book, The Language Police, that is either amusing or horrifying beyond belief depending on your point of view. The piece is a simple list of words and phrases banned by major textbook publishers and their suggested alternatives.

Unfortunately, the piece is not online. It's worth the trip to the newsstand, though.

The best among many:

Blind leading the blind (banned as handicapism)
Busybody (banned as sexist, demeaning to older women)
Confined to a wheelchair (banned as offensive; replace with "person who is mobility impaired")
East, Eastern (banned as Eurocentric)
Elderly, the (banned as ageist; replace with "older people")
Fairy (banned because it suggests homosexuality; replace with "elf")
Founding Fathers, the (banned as sexist; replace with "the Founders" or "the Framers")
Huts (banned as ethnocentric; replace with "small houses")
Jungle (banned; replace with "rain forest")
Little person (banned as offensive; replace with "person of small stature")
Lumberjack (banned as sexist; replace with "woodcutter")
One-man band (banned as sexist; replace with "one-person performance")
Regatta (banned as elitist)

And the best (Stalin's minions couldn't have come up with this one)

Mother Russia (banned as sexist; replace with "Russia, vast land of rich harvests")

http://www.tonguetied.us/