It seems that every sinew of British life is now infiltrated by the Marxist war on speech, on and off dry land. As an island nation, we are naturally at home on the waves, albeit our trawlers are now inhabited by 'fisherpeople' as opposed to 'fishermen' according to the likes of the BBC. While the workers scoff at such bizarre gender-neutral language, the disease of politically correct speech is now being extended to sailing in all its forms of leisure pursuits.
New guidelines from the Royal Yachting Association - which boasts Princess Anne as its president - have declared that certain sailing terms are potentially offensive to women and so-called 'non-binary' people. Use of 'man overboard' is now problematic, and should be replaced with the much longer 'person in water' - an extra two syllables which could cost valuable seconds in response time when someone is drowning. Just as long as no-one is offended, eh?
The term 'sportsmanship' is also deemed potentially offensive, as is 'seaman' and 'seamanship', which should be replaced with 'deckhand', 'deck work' or 'boat handling'.
The guide states:
"Some language in sailing and boating environments might not value or represent people who identify as female or prefer gender-neutral terms. For a long time, some terminology focussed on the male perspective to being involved in sailing and boating. As the representation of people identifying as female or non-binary has increased within our sport and recreation, it’s important that the language that we use honours and values them too."
The RYA is not just responsible for yachting, but all manner of leisurely sailing vessels - everything from paddle boards and kayaks upwards. Perhaps they can apply it to migrant boats too, despite the fact there is little chance of anything other than a man going overboard!
Last week's Lenny Henry meme generated 252 comments and 60 shares on Facebook.
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