The
Washington Post has an interesting look at the recent explosion in the use of
the term politically correct in partisan debates, whether in the media or
social media or on stage at presidential events.
The Post’s “The
Fix” blog traced a modern history of the term by relying upon the New York
Times archive (probably the most thorough newspaper archive in the country) and
traced its origin to Nazi censorship rules and propaganda practices.
Some years
later, political correctness was commonly used by officials in the Soviet
Union. In the U.S., the feminist movement played a PC role by insisting on
gender-neutral terms to replace old standards, such as postman, spokesman,
Congressman.
of The Fix writes that use of the term skyrocketed in the 1990s and he provides
an eye-opening graphic, relying on PC mentions in the Times, to document the
trend.
points out that “politically correct” has quickly evolved into a thinly veiled
attack line used by conservatives against liberals, not only to defend crude
language but to criticize broad policy agendas:
everything from terror attacks by the Islamic State (including five times during Tuesday night’s debate, beyond
Carson’s usage) to Trump losing honorary
positions in Scotland. It’s evolved into something of a catch-all for the
right, used to decry any number of things for any number of reasons.
“The
evolution, then, went like this. Political correctness was a standard of
correctness applied by political institutions, which then became a dismissive
way of referring to language-policing by non-political institutions, which then
became a way of referring to disputes with political opponents. ‘Political
correctness’ is now largely a synonym for ‘the way the left does it.’”
