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About this Episode
Have you ever casually used the terms "spirit animal," "first-world problem," or "spooky"? It might be time to rethink your use of these phrases and remove them from your daily lingo.
CBC Ottawa compiled a small list of words, submitted by readers and some of our journalists who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour. We ran some of the words by anti-racism and language experts, who said some of these phrases can be hurtful to various groups of people for their historical and cultural context.
"Being an English speaker doesn't entail that you necessarily know the racist etymology automatically," said Ai Taniguchi, a linguist and an associate language studies professor with University of Toronto Mississauga, in an email to CBC.
Etymology is the study of the origins of words and the way their meanings change over time.
"The fact that you said it, oblivious to the etymology, doesn't automatically make you a bad person."
What you do once you find out a word is racist, sexist or ableist etymology carries more importance, she explained.
Taniguchi said she understands it's a tricky question, but it's less about being politically correct and more about listening to the lived experiences of others.
"'I didn't know it was racist' does not eliminate the pain of the hearer," said Taniguchi. "As language users, we have the social responsibility to monitor the impact our utterances have on others, especially when it involves a marginalized group."
Anti-racism trainer Jas Kalra agrees.
"It's not so much about political correctness, I think it is about the empirical accuracy and ... if somebody really calls us out on a particular word, we need to stop and say, 'It's not about me,'" said Kalra, who runs Ottawa-based Jas Kalra Consulting and coaches people and organizations on inclusion and diversity.
CBC Ottawa compiled a small list of words, submitted by readers and some of our journalists who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour. We ran some of the words by anti-racism and language experts, who said some of these phrases can be hurtful to various groups of people for their historical and cultural context.
"Being an English speaker doesn't entail that you necessarily know the racist etymology automatically," said Ai Taniguchi, a linguist and an associate language studies professor with University of Toronto Mississauga, in an email to CBC.
Etymology is the study of the origins of words and the way their meanings change over time.
"The fact that you said it, oblivious to the etymology, doesn't automatically make you a bad person."
What you do once you find out a word is racist, sexist or ableist etymology carries more importance, she explained.
Taniguchi said she understands it's a tricky question, but it's less about being politically correct and more about listening to the lived experiences of others.
"'I didn't know it was racist' does not eliminate the pain of the hearer," said Taniguchi. "As language users, we have the social responsibility to monitor the impact our utterances have on others, especially when it involves a marginalized group."
Anti-racism trainer Jas Kalra agrees.
"It's not so much about political correctness, I think it is about the empirical accuracy and ... if somebody really calls us out on a particular word, we need to stop and say, 'It's not about me,'" said Kalra, who runs Ottawa-based Jas Kalra Consulting and coaches people and organizations on inclusion and diversity.
Hosts & Guests
No transcript available for this episode.
