IN TODAY’S CRAZY WORLD, THE SUCCESS OF MANY YOUNG AMERICANS DEPENDS ON USING THE RIGHT LANGUAGE. NO ONE WANTS TO BE BLACKBALLED FOR SAYING SOMETHING STUPID OR TONE DEAF.

BASED ON A NEWLY RELEASED DOCUMENT FROM STANFORD UNIVERSITY THOUGH, MANY OF THE WORDS I JUST USED ARE ENOUGH TO GET YOU BLACKLISTED.

THE ELIMINATION OF HARMFUL LANGUAGE INITIATIVE IS A MULTI-PHASE PROJECT BY STANFORD’S IT DEPARTMENT. ACCORDING TO ITS WEBSITE, THE INITIATIVE IS GEARED TOWARD HELPING INDIVIDUALS RECOGNIZE AND ADDRESS POTENTIALLY HARMFUL LANGUAGE.

THIS WEEK, A 13-PAGE LIST SURFACED CONTAINING MORE THAN 150 OF THE  NOW VERBOTEN WORDS OR PHRASES.

NOW IS NORMALLY THE PART OF THE STORY WHERE WE MIGHT SAY “TRIGGER WARNING,” BUT THAT’S ALSO A HARMFUL PHRASE, SO WE WON’T.

STANFORD BREAKS DOWN THE BAD WORDS INTO CATEGORIES LIKE ABLEIST, AGEISM, COLONIALISM AND OTHERS.

INSTEAD OF SAYING THINGS LIKE BLIND REVIEW OR BLIND STUDY, WHICH FURTHERS ABLEIST CULTURE, ANONYMOUS REVIEW OR MASKED STUDY ARE PREFERRED.

YOU SHOULD NEVER GO SOMEWHERE FOR A WALK-IN APPOINTMENT, AGAIN, BECAUSE OF ABLEIST CULTURE PROPAGATION, IT’S A DROP IN APPOINTMENT.

IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU MIGHT NEVER MASTER THIS SUBJECT, THAT’S GOOD! BECAUSE MASTER IS ALSO A BAD WORD SINCE, HISTORICALLY, MASTERS OWNED SLAVES.  INSTEAD, YOU SHOULD LOOK TO BECOME ADEPT AT CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD.

IF THIS ALL SOUNDS A BIT UPPITY TO YOU, STANFORD SAYS YOU’RE STILL WRONG.  UPPITY WAS USED BY BOTH WHITE SUPREMACISTS AND MEMBERS OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY TO DESCRIBE SOMEONE WHO WAS ACTING UNEXPECTEDLY. YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID THIS ALL SOUNDS ARROGANT OR STUCK UP TO YOU.

STANFORD SAYS THE ELIMINATION OF HARMFUL LANGUAGE INITIATIVE IS MADE UP OF IT LEADERS AT THE UNIVERSITY. STANFORD SAYS A TEAM OF STAKEHOLDERS MET FOR 18 MONTHS TO COMPILE THE LIST.