Leaving aside all the global drama for a moment, I thought I'd share this link from an editing website. Apparently there are now "Accessibility Terms" to use in writing and editing to avoid offending anyone.
Descriptions are becoming quite verbose, it seems. For example, you shouldn't say "blind person." It needs to be "person with visual impairment." Rather than the succinct word "mute," now the term is "person who is unable to speak."
My favorite accessibility term is "person without disabilities." It's terribly gauche to say "normal" or "able-bodied" nowadays. So in going to great lengths to avoid defining people by their disability, the politically correct powers-that-be have seen fit to define "healthy" people as "people without disabilities." While "a person with a hearing impairment" cannot be termed "deaf," we hale and hearty folks are defined by our lack of disabilities. Makes perfect sense, yes?
Words exist for a reason--to communicate. Words like "blind" and "deaf," which relay vivid meaning and instantaneous comprehension in a one-syllable sound, are now considered unacceptable. Or perhaps I should say, "word no longer used to communicate reality due to the possibility of offending delicate sensibilities." Yes, that's better. Clear as mud.
