Thursday 24 September 2015

Euphemisms about Diversity and Relationships (in Quotes)

DIVERSITY

In the last Batman movie they told me that I couldn't get an audition for a small role they were casting because they weren't "going urban". (Zoe Kravitz)

Ideology: white people of Christian background just get to be British. Ethnic and religious minorities have to identify with Britain. (Daniel Trilling ‏@trillingual)

Multiculturalism is relativistic. No culture is more valuable than [any] other. (Miloš Tomin ‏@hogtownserb He also says that the Byzantine Empire (eg) was not multicultural because it had a dominant culture.)

People call you a North London geek. (Jeremy Paxman to Ed Miliband)

Jack to Liz: the television audience doesn’t want your elitist, East Coast, alternative, intellectual, left-wing –
Liz: Jack, just say Jewish, this is taking forever.
(30 Rock)

“Flamboyant North London businessman" is code for “Jew”, according to Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian, October 2013.

As David Cameron admits that Britain is disjointed by mass immigration, Ruth Dudley Edwards examines the consequences of our lax policies. (The Daily Telegraph, 14 April 2011)

Who is to blame for fractured Britain? (The Daily Telegraph headline, April 14 2011)


RELATIONSHIPS

The translation agency only advertises for girls with “no complexes”: code for being prepared to bed the client. (Times article on Russian gold-diggers, Feb 2015)

Prenuptial agreements are booming among wealthy couples desperate to avoid the expense of a messy contested divorce settlement. (Evening Standard, 7 May 2008 For "messy", read "expensive".)

"Compromise" being code for doing exactly what their male partner wants regardless of their own pleasure. (elegantgatheringofwhitesnows.com on a piece in the Metro on why men should date single mothers – one of the reasons is that they are more prepared to "compromise".)

More here, and links to the rest.

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