"Truth is more of a stranger than fiction." - Mark Twain

***

Quangos ban traditional phrases like 'whiter than white' and 'gentlemen's agreement'

"Documents released under freedom of information rules show that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission advised staff to replace the phrase “black day” with “miserable day”.

Its explanation was that the term carries a “hierarchical valuation of skin colour”.

The commission also urges employees to be careful of the term “ethnic minority” because it can imply “something smaller and less important”.

The National Gallery is concerned some terms its staff use could discriminate against women.

It suggests they should replace the term "gentlemen's agreement" with "unwritten agreement" or "agreement based on trust" while "right-hand man" should become "second in command".

The Learning Skills Council is also mindful of "gender bias" in some language used by its workers and has asked them to "perfect" their brief, rather than "master" it.

Advice issued by the South West Regional Development Agency states: “Terms such as ‘black sheep of the family’, ‘black looks’ and ‘black mark’ have no direct link to skin colour but potentially serve to reinforce a negative view of all things black. Equally, certain terms imply a negative image of ‘black’ by reinforcing the positive aspects of white.

“For example, in the context of being above suspicion, the phrase ‘whiter than white’ is often used. Purer than pure or cleaner than clean are alternatives which do not infer that anything other than white should be regarded with suspicion.”

Marie Clair, spokeswoman for the Plain English Campaign, believes the quangos should take a more "common sense" approach rather than issuing a blanket ban on traditional phrases.

“Political correctness has good intentions but things can be taken to an extreme," she told the Sunday Times."