Language Evolves To Avoid Possible Offence?

[sunny-dave]

Watching a recent Doc Martin last night (is Clunes entirely well, his face is becoming more and more like a 'skull with ears'?) - I noticed that when Doc was approaching a small child with a hypodermic, the parent reassured her using the phrase "only a little scratch".

I would always have expected the phrase 'only a little prick' - after all it is an injection, not a scratching process.

A quick poll of the others watching (including a medic) said that 'scratch' is now the norm - so we lose clarity (and another potential 'Carry On' moment) to the gods of political correctness.

The emasculation and drift to ever increasing blandness of our once rich English phraseology and language continues ...

[ABerrant]

"60 years ago... the nurse kept a bowl of smarties on her desk as a bribe..., apparently i told her where she could stick [them]"

"except the blue ones ?"

Blue Smarties didn't exist before 1988. They also disappeared between 2006 and 2008 while Nestlé searched for a natural blue dye to replace the synthetic dyes withdrawn across the colour range.

[THECORBYLOON]

DAVE, nettles are jaggy nettles and folk speak about jagged rocks if they're sharp so an injection is a jag.

[sunny-dave]

Ah - thanks TCL - my pals here in Rothwell also say that 'Jag' is the word used by Corby residents :)

[gness]

Will some fairy tales have to be changed too?.... :-(