Forbidden Words
One of the most ambitious things I’ve heard
Stanford University is trying
To eliminate harmful words
Number of words in the English language
Is really hard to know
Some say half a million
But others say that’s low
But say half a million words
Could potentially harm us all
Stanford finds only about 200
Words that they say appall
They don’t list the f-word
Or other favorites of mine
But they do indict some common words
That will almost blow your mind
They have a dedicated website
No “webmaster” to be had
Any word containing “master”
Is inherently very bad
The problem with the word “master”
Goes back to slavery
It really makes me wonder
What Stanford will now call an advanced degree
They are sensitive to the homeless
And while the difference is not rousing
Instead of “homeless person”
They say use “person without housing”
Don’t say “beat a dead horse”
Even though it is just an idiom
They say it normalizes violence to animals
At its very minimum
Forget the “walk-in” clinic
Call it “drop-in”, that’s OK
“Walk-in” is harmful to those who can’t
But “drop-in” you can say
It’s OK to take your lunch
Just don’t use the term “brown bag”
Lest you show your racial sensitivity
Is suffering from time lag
Same goes for the term “white paper”
“Black mark” and many more
If the term contains a color
Its usage, best ignore
Don’t call someone a “guru”
Because you surely go too far
And using that term casually
Diminishes the value of those who are
I could go on-and-on
With examples by the score
Google Stanford’s website
To see many, many more
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