Let’s face it: Everybody hates political correctness. Or, at least, everybody says they hate political correctness. According to Webster, PC is an adjective:

conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) should be eliminated

With the whole advent of such widespread hatred toward the whole idea of PC culture, it would seem to me that it is more PC to be un-PC.

But there’s a little bit of a problem I have. With such widespread hatred toward PC, it’s difficult to believe that the popular perception of PC is quite as narrow as Webster’s definition. After all, I’ve heard plenty of loudmouth smart asses proclaim their hatred of PC, but still refuse to say the “n” word. So, is Webster wrong, or is this just an instance of a popular misperception?

The broader definition of PC would more likely refer to the avoidance of offending anybody — who cares about political sensibilities! Therefore, it’s not only un-PC to use the “n” word. It’s also un-PC to use the “f” word, especially on television.

I’ve been thinking for a while that there should probably be more words to describe such phenomena:

• Calling things as mundane as the “f” word “un-PC”
• Claiming to be “so not PC,” even if the “n” word is avoided at all costs
• Pointlessly breaking a taboo except to prove how un-PC you are

… and so on.

My favorite idea comes from a New Yorker cartoon, where a couple of folks who are dressed in the sort of garb you’d expect PC-conscious folks to wear, are declaring, “We’re trying to come up with a less offensive term for ‘political correctness.’”

In any case, as long as we stick to the dictionary definition, the following passage from my Organizational Communication textbook probably wouldn’t fall under the category of PC (though I disagree — this is so PC):

An overall culture includes a number of social communities, which are groups of people who live within a dominant culture yet also belong to another social group or groups. For many years social groups that were distinct from mainstream culture were called subcultures. However, the prefix sub connotes inferiority, as if subcultures are somehow less than “real cultures” (Samovar & Porter, 2001). The terms co-culture, social group, and social community are used now to describe groups of people who hold dual membership in the dominant culture and one or more particular groups within it.

Co-culture: that is so punk.

It would probably be a bit more honest and simple to say that PC language is sometimes ridiculous and annoying, but sometimes it is not. Likewise, overtly un-PC language is sometimes ridiculous and annoying, but sometimes it’s just lame but funny. In any case, it’s still fun to hear PC horror stories.