> In the same way it would sound pretty insensitive to call someone "cancerous" rather than say they have cancer, it also dehumanizes someone to call them obese, said Joe Nadglowski
... What? No, it's because "cancerous" means behaves like cancer. It doesn't make lexical sense to call a patient "cancerous" unless they themselves are somehow growing and multiplying rapidly, consuming the hospital that hosts them.
Unlike that example, rearranging the usage of adjectives like "obese" does not change the actual meaning at all. "Joe is a blue-eyed, left-handed, obese, mild-mannered man" does not imply that Joe is defined by his obesity any more than he is defined his mild manners, his blue eyes, or his left-handedness. Changing that sentence to "Joe is a man with blue eyes, left-handedness, obesity, and mild manners" is just exactly the same.
Movements to enforce language usage changes like this are usually well-intentioned and can sometimes have positive impacts. But equally often they merely spread needless anxiety among English-as-a-second-language learners, while creating an unnecessary divide between those who get the memo early and those who get it late, with the former group perceiving and accusing the latter of deliberate offense and insensitivity where in fact none was intended.
... What? No, it's because "cancerous" means behaves like cancer. It doesn't make lexical sense to call a patient "cancerous" unless they themselves are somehow growing and multiplying rapidly, consuming the hospital that hosts them.
Unlike that example, rearranging the usage of adjectives like "obese" does not change the actual meaning at all. "Joe is a blue-eyed, left-handed, obese, mild-mannered man" does not imply that Joe is defined by his obesity any more than he is defined his mild manners, his blue eyes, or his left-handedness. Changing that sentence to "Joe is a man with blue eyes, left-handedness, obesity, and mild manners" is just exactly the same.
Movements to enforce language usage changes like this are usually well-intentioned and can sometimes have positive impacts. But equally often they merely spread needless anxiety among English-as-a-second-language learners, while creating an unnecessary divide between those who get the memo early and those who get it late, with the former group perceiving and accusing the latter of deliberate offense and insensitivity where in fact none was intended.