Definately PC gone mad, what a bunch of oil tankers (seagull rhyming slang). So 'ship shape and Bristol fashion' is non PC. Dont these silly sods ever look at the rich history of nautical terms.

Next there will be no 'man the rigging' instead 'person the rigging'. No more referring to the weather as being 'Brassy' (short for freezing the balls of a brass monkey)No more 'flogging a dead horse' might upset horse owners, no helmsman, just steering person.

Thought police go overboard
By Richard Savill
(Filed: 20/05/2005)

The phrase "shipshape and Bristol fashion" should not be used because it is deemed to be politically incorrect, a group of councillors has been told.

A training firm told them that the phrase originated from the slave trade and described black people being ready for sale.

However Gerry Brooke, a Bristol historian, who edits a supplement in the city's Evening Post newspaper, said it derived from the good reputation Bristol had for constructing ships.

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable agrees: "The expression derives from the port of Bristol's reputation for efficiency in the days of sail."

Peter Abraham, the city's lord mayor, said: "I have used the term for 60 years and my family has and there is no way it can be regarded as politically incorrect."

Fifteen district councillors in Wyre Forest, which covers Kidderminster, Worcs, and about 70 council staff attended a two-day "equalities and diversity" course this month.

Stephen Clee, the council's Conservative leader, said:

"Part of the seminar concentrated on words and phrases which could be deemed offensive. A lot of the councillors thought this was political correctness gone mad. I am inclined to agree with them. No working practices will change."

Another phrase the training firm considered politically incorrect was "nitty gritty", which it claimed was used to describe slaves in the lowest reaches of ships. But the Oxford Reference Dictionary says its origin is unknown.

The training firm, based in Walsall, West Midlands, could not be contacted.