(Is there a list of words that should not be used? If there is, why are  they 
words at all?)
 
Here are some of the unacceptable terms:
 
Broken Home - Replaced by Dysfunctional  family.

Bum - Replaced by Homeless Person.Calling a  person a "Bum" implies that the 
person is a moocher that is too lazy to get a  job. Referring to him as a 
"Homeless Person" removes this stigma, and implies  that he would be a perfectly 
normal citizen if only the government would give  him a house. 

Crazy - Replaced by the term Mental Illness. And, since  it is an illness, it 
may be treated in the same manner as other diseases  - with drugs. Of course, 
this idea is nothing new ... people have been using  drugs to treat 
depression for centuries. 

Criminal - Replaced by  behaviorally challenged. This is one change that 
makes sense. A lot of  the people in prisons today are not really "criminals" in 
the classic sense.  Thanks to the "War on Drugs", there are a lot of people in 
jail because they  failed to "behave" properly.

Eastern (As when used when discussing  Asian Culture) - Too Eurocentric. 
Instead, use Africa as your frame of  reference. When discussing European culture 
you should now use the phase  "Northern", and when discussing Asia use the 
phrase "North-Eastern". Now isn't  that better? 

Factory - Replaced by Plant. The word  Factory is a place where mistreated 
laborers toil long hours to produce  pollution that billows forth from gigantic 
smokestacks. The word Plant is  preferred since it is more difficult for this 
term to carry a negative  connotation since this term is also used to describe 
nature. Its counterpart  noun describes plant life (Plants, as in flowers, 
shrubs, etc). And the  Verb form, to plant, is the process of lovingly placing a 
seed in the  ground so it may one day grow into a mighty oak. Who can 
complain about having a  new plant in their backyard? 

Failure - Replaced by Deferred  Success.

Fairy - Homophobic. Replaced by Petite airborne  humanoid which possesses 
magical powers. The term fairy should be  avoided when discussing these mythical 
beings, regardless of how gay they may  appear.

Fat - Replaced by Enlarged physical condition caused by  a completely natural 
genetically-induced hormone imbalance. Of course, this  is very difficult to 
say in one breath-- so people will find it easier to not  say it at all. The 
term "fat" is simply too short and to direct. It all too  clearly points out 
that the reason that an obese person's skin appears so  swollen is because it is 
being buttressed by large amounts of... well...  Fat.

Foreign Food - Replaced by Ethnic Cuisine. The  word foreign is generally 
used when one wishes to refer to something that  alien to ones own country -- 
something that is not normally found within  the jurisdiction of your own 
particular political unit. But with the increasing  power of multinational 
organizations (such as the U.N. and large corporations),  nothing can be said to be 
truly 'foreign' anymore. In a world where you can find  a McDonald's in Moscow, a 
Disneyland in Japan, or a single currency throughout  Europe, the word 
'Foreign' is losing its meaning.
The word 'ethnic' provides  a more accurate way to refer to these cultural 
traits which are continually  growing fainter as we move away from the world of 
the past, in which different  areas of the world were actually unique.

Founding Fathers -  Too Sexist. Instead, use the term The Founders. We 
wouldn't want to  exclude all those great female leaders of 18th century America who 
signed the  Declaration of Independence would we?

Garbage Man - Replaced by  Sanitation Engineer – A Garbage Man picks up 
garbage. A  Sanitation Engineer engineers it.

Ghetto - Replaced by  Economically disadvantaged area. This term is used by 
politicians who  believe money from the Government would solve their problems. 

Girlfriend/Wife - Replaced by Unpaid sex  worker

Handicapped - Replaced by Physically Challenged,  or even worse, handicapable

Home-ec (Home Economics) -  Replaced by Family and Consumer Sciences, and I'm 
really not sure  why. These classes have been taught in school since the 
early 1900's  after Ellen Swallow Richards, an old-time feminist and the first 
woman to  graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, formed the 
American  Home Economics Association in 1909. But I suppose that the reason for 
the change  has something to do with the fact that Home-Ec is generally 
considered a  'girly' class, and is therefore sexist.

Housewife - Replaced by  Domestic Engineer. This is to remove the necessity 
of marriage from the  task of raising children.

Illegal Aliens – Replaced by  Undocumented Immigrants. The phrase ‘Illegal 
Aliens’ implies that these  people are a bunch of law-breaking creatures from 
outer space, while  ‘Undocumented Immigrants’ suggests that they are good 
old-fashioned immigrants  that simply have not gone through the hassle of being ‘
documented’  yet.

Janitor - Replaced by Custodial Artist. No matter what  you call it, this is 
a person who is paid to clean up crap.

Jungle  - Replaced by Rainforest. A Rainforest is a happy place where  Disney 
characters dance and sing ... a jungle is a scary place with lions,  tigers, 
malaria and natives that want to cut off your head and boil it for  dinner... 
who in their right mind would want to save  that!?!

Lumberjack - Replaced by  Murderer.

Man’s Job and Woman’s Work - Replaced by  Traditional Gender Role. These are 
basic practices that are followed in  one form or another by most of the life 
forms on this planet, and have been part  of human culture for thousands of 
years… and as with most other ‘traditions’, a  lot of people believe that it 
is time for a change.

Midget -  Replaced by Vertically Challenged.

Natural Disaster -  replaced by Unnatural Event caused by man's destruction 
of the  environment. Every hurricane, mudslide, and flood should be blamed on 
Global  Warming, even though these events have been occurring for millions of 
years.  (I'm still waiting for somebody to blame the last Ice Age on the 
campfires of  cavemen)

Niggardly - A perfectly good word that dumb  people might get confused with 
the bad word that has similar letters.

Psycho - Replaced by Pathologically  High-Spirited

Secretary - Replaced by Administrative  Assistant – The word Secretary comes 
from Latin and means ‘Confidential  Officer’ – And for some unknown reason 
this is a bad thing. 

Sex  Change - Replaced by gender re-assignment.

Swamp -  Replaced by Wetland. Swamps are full alligators, bugs, and disease. 
If  anybody went around saying that we need to "save the swamps", people would 
think  they were out of their friggin' mind!

Trailer Park - Replace by  Mobile Home Community. 

Ugly - Replaced by Visually  Challenging.

White Trash - Losers of  European descent. Term still in acceptance, although 
its counterpart term to  describe trash of the negro race has being 
eliminated.

Basil Forest
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