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The euphemism treadmill

12 October, 2018

When non-witches stop using a term like "lame" because they think it's used offensively, is a moderating influence on the use of the term removed, so that in the future, only witches will use the term, in ways the non-witches think are offensive? i.e. when you change to a less offensive term, are you ceding the original term to people who will continue to use it offensively?

Does this mean you should continue using terms that have a possibility of being seen as offensive, explicitly with non-negative connotations - like continuing to say "gypsy" rather than "traveller"?

Is this just Steven Pinker's Euphemism Treadmill?

Does Betteridge's Law of Headlines apply to my 2nd last question?

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