brucie wrote:
Churchill was visiting the American south. The hostess inquired as to which part of the chicken he would prefer. Churchill replied, "The breast." He was set straight by her on the spot. He was informed that in polite company one said "White meat." Anyway, weeks later when he had returned to England, he sent her a thank you card and enclosed was a brooch. With it was the request that she pin it to her white meat. Such a language we have.

Great story about the great WC. Wonder if it's true. Anyhow it certainly is a great language where we can discuss it and take joy in nuance.

What I've found is that everyone including me, decries PC-ness, yet has her or his own pet grievances. I've avoided using the words 'jew' and 'welsh' as verbs. I've been looking for something to replace 'indian giver' because it crops up in a song I love, so I need something that retains the meaning and scans the same, i.e. has the same count of syllables.

On the original thread topic, with terms like 'Bristol-fashion' and 'nitty gritty' we have the suggestion that they have an uncomfortable origin, yet the words have no current reference to that origin, so I would argue that there is no bad connotation to their current use. English evolves.

A couple of years ago someone in local government had to apologize for the use of the word "niggardly" in racially mixed company. There were several takes on this, the first take that this was a rash PC attack because in fact the word has no racial origians nor implications. But in thinking it over later I decided that the word had homonymic implications and someone of a Machiavellian pursuasion could utilize it for nefarious purposes, as indeed any word can be so used, eh nudge nudge? Does your wife go?