An article in Reason magazine gives a brief history of the term, "Politically Correct", which is interesting. The author ends the article with, "maybe we should drop the phrase from our lexicon. Not because it doesn't describe anything, but because it describes so many things that you can't use it without worrying that people won't understand what you're talking about. But I won't scold you if you use it anyway. I wouldn't want to come across as politically correct."

Common language impacts on how people think about and treat others in our societies. Language frames how we think and reinforces our stereotypes.

We still have institutional racism here in the UK and I'm pretty sure it exists in the States too - the same goes for institutional sexism. Often it's very subtle and goes un-noticed by the majority and is considered to be quite normal and seems quite innocuous to most.

I noticed a very clear example of this on a TV documentary about life in a hospital Accident and Emergency (ER) department. Dr Alice Smith was referred to as a working mother, yet none of the male doctors were referred to as working fathers.

As I say, this is quite subtle, but this continues to reinforce (or does it reflect?) how wee think about gender difference?

however, I do also believe that political correctness can also be used as an excuse to avoid dealing with sensitive issues and each case should be taken on its merits and context and not just the words.

Two quick points- language is dynamic, and using inclusive language is extremely important in a society that values diversity and equality.

We should listen when told our language needs improvement, and do our best to keep up as meaning evolves.

when i was doing my uni thesis, I found out that a school which had existed just at the end of my road in Liverpool had had a name change nearly every year along exactly the same lines that you talked about from imbecile to mentally challenged and every station in bewtween - I was pretty horrified but can see that each change was meant at that time to be a kinder perspective..?

Interesting. I always thought "political correctness" was a sarcastic term describing people who supported politically associated topics on which they had little to no understanding but based their support on the apparent popularity of the topic.