Note: This is an exploratory piece presenting an argument that may be uncomfortable to read for some, but is something that needs to be considered and is an idea worth exploring. Please read through with a critical lens.

As a human being that cares about other humans, the last thing I want to do is offend someone unknowingly. For that reason, I am thankful for the constant reminders by people more up-to-date in language on what is and isn’t acceptable to say. However, the frequent changes in the appropriate lexicon have led me to think deeper and ask more questions. Why are words being “lost” in my vocabulary due to them becoming profane, and is there a way to keep these words appropriate? This perpetual cycle is called the “euphemism treadmill,” and the changing to less specific wordings due to original words turning profane is hurting the English language.

To be clear once again, I am not advocating for speaking profanity; I am asking the question of why these words become profanity in the first place and if we can stop it. Some words are already “lost” as they are no longer politically correct and never will be.

Why is this bad for the English language? It’s because the replacements are worse at purveying the true definition of the issue. The replacement words are less specific. With the words being less specific, there is no loss of specificity in a purely clinical context, but it has a huge effect in social contexts. 

The euphemism treadmill has been happening for a while (Steven Pinker coined the term in the early ‘90s), though the debate about it was spearheaded by Australian statistician and philosopher Ben O’Neill in 2011 when in his paper, he stated the idea that “Politically correct language is narrow, faddish, and highly reflexive in character, consisting in large part euphemisms. It sometimes promotes or amounts to outright dishonesty. Moreover, the drive for [politically correct] language involves aggressive attempts to delegitimize the use of politically incorrect terms that fail to keep up with current fashion.”

The treadmill that is remaining politically correct adds to our bank of profane words and creates miscommunications. People like the elderly who are less up to date with society and less adaptable to change often don’t know a word is inappropriate until it’s too late — and I can’t blame them. They’ve spent their entire lives using the word in its previously acceptable context, and even if they know it’s “wrong” to say now, they might continue to use it because it doesn’t have any negative connotations to them and they are used to using it. 

Removing words from the lexicon due to them no longer being politically correct makes our language less specific and creates more communication errors in conversation. To go about fixing it, we need to take a quick detour and learn how these words become “wrong” in the first place.

A word becomes inappropriate when it’s used with the intent to hurt others. How is intent to hurt others shown? Words are made hurtful purely by tone and context — even the nicest words will hurt others when used in an outburst of anger or with the intent to bully someone. Once the word gets used in a negative connotation a sufficient amount of times, it is deemed “politically incorrect” and removed from the language.

Once a word starts to be seen in its derogatory context more than the correct context it gets “canceled,” so we need to plug the hole before it sinks the ship. However, it’s important to know that we can’t fix a sunken ship; the words that already have strong negative connotations are gone. We have to look forward and seal the hull; by using words correctly to keep a negative stigma from forming around them in the first place due to intentionally negative use from bullies and bigots with the intent to hurt others.

The battle for saving our words from the bullies is not an easy one, but it is one we can win. The way to solve the problem and stop the treadmill is to make sure words continue to be used in their correct fashion, even if bullies are using them derogatorily. We need to stand up to the bullies over the connotation of the word, and make sure the word is seen in the correct context.