Should you be politically correct or be honest?

You make it sound like they are not the same.

One should be honest and respectful.

People who complain something is “politically correct” could be better called “dishonest assholes.”

“Political correctness” is a description of treating people with respect rather than putting them down because of their race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, religion, or heritage.

Honesty is always the best policy, but some things are better left unsaid.
And if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

Oh er… I plead the fifth.

If the receiver of your wisdom is worthy of it, you should be honest.
Otherwise be politically correct.

Depends on the situation. Hopefully, the two are in sync most of the time.

What do you think “political correctness” is? Because the term means different things to different people, which prevents most conversations about it from going anywhere. In the modern United States, for instance, it seems to be a synonym for “being polite.”

The question doesn’t make sense to me. Political correctness does not equal dishonesty.
Where do you find your definition?

It got me thinking after looking at this Discussion

Honesty with some tact is always a good rule of thumb.

Politeness and decorum are the best policy.

I like my confederate money but I don’t fly a flag.
I will explain another point of view to represent it to the best of my ability but I don’t advocate my own position unless someone specifically asks—then and only then does honesty come into play, but even so I don’t insist my way;s hat the other person must accept.

I will clarify if someone’s facts are wrong.

It is apparently politically correct to say that being politically correct is synonymous with being polite and has nothing to do with dishonesty.
If political correctness wasn’t generally a dishonest evasion, nobody would be talking about political correctness.

I’d like to delete the phrases “politically correct” and “keeping it real” from existence. I prefer more basic ideas like honesty, thoughtfulness, tact, concern.

Probably best to think before you speak (or tweet).

Sometimes honesty is not very tactfull. I don’t do politically correct.

I also think of political correctness as things like “we don’t say ‘Indians,’ we say ‘native Americans.’”

I don’t always think of it in terms of honesty or politeness.

The two are not antonyms.

I have noticed, IRL anyway, that the people who most loudly decry political correctness are annoyed that someone objects to their loudly proclaimed racist, sexist, homophobic statements.

Making an effort to speak respectfully to and about others really should not be that difficult.

Ica’s above reference to Indians and Native Americans is a good case in point.

In historic and certain cultural references—they are Indians. e,g, an Indian reservation (but name the specific tribe or identity if possible). Children dress up as Indians, There were Indians and Pirates in Never-Never land in Peter Pan. Indians live in Tepees and wigwams.

But if you are talking about real, current people and their affairs, sociological or political references, their heritage and identity— it is ACTUALLY correct to refer to them as Native Americans and an innoculous error to call them Indians or American Indians.

Their crafts and handicrafts are Native American..

@josie Your answers and my answer have literally the exact same number of votes. So your weird martyr complex isn’t really going to work here. Why not try answering the question that I posed to @imrainmaker? That would go a long way in helping us determine why you’re so upset over this question.

No one is honest all the time. We don’t always tell someone that we think their dress is ugly or that they’re a little chubby or that their religious beliefs are ridiculous. Whether or not the avoidance of this kind of honesty is “political correctness”, I don’t know, but I certainly think it takes some level of decency to not voice every thought that comes into your head, even if they reflect your honest feelings.

Some people seem to equate honesty with “rudeness”, which is certainly not the case. But sometimes being honest is rude and disrespectful.

To me, political correctness refers to a kind of language that is deemed respectful. By whomever. Sometimes it’s not necessarily the desired language of the people being referred to (my fat aunt never wanted to be called “overweight”, she preferred “fat”—but I recognize that’s an anomaly).

Look, just be respectful, use some tact, call people what they want to be called, don’t care what someone says is “politically correct” or not. That’s more or less how I live my life and it works pretty well.

Say what is in your mind and let those around you correct you if they don’t like it.

This is how you learn.

I just recently learned that saying transgenders is not appropriate. I should say transgender people.

We learn by our mistakes.

^^That’s true for everything if you want to be perfectly PC. You shouldn’t say blacks, diabetics, Jews, etc. Black people, people with diabetes, Jewish people; or, the singular would be he is black, or the black woman, he has diabetes, not he is a diabetic, the Jewish woman, or he is Jewish, etc. By using transgenders or diabetics, it’s making the person their label, which people frown on. In the plural people feel like you are stereotyping, or overgeneralizing, about a group.

You can’t say diabetics? ARYFKM? JFC.

You will be pleased to hear you won’t die anymore either you will simply “pass”.

So to prove the point of the people who object to PC, you are bringing up every ridiculous extreme you can think of? Clever. I guess then it justifies use of grossly pejorative terms, because being PC is silly.
As with anything else, a modicum of sense when speaking to, or within earshot, of others is desirable.
Geez

So now I’m not an asshole, I’m an “asshole person.”
Look, that’s PC but saying black people instead of the “n” word is not, it’s just being respectful. Political correctness is just nonsense. You are either tactful or you are not.

@ARE_you_kidding_me You can say it, it’s just once in a while you’ll hit someone who will correct you lol. Many diabetics (oops) themselves still say, “I’m a diabetic,” but then someone like my aunt would tell them to say, “I have diabetes.” I have epilepsy, not I’m an epileptic. You are not your disease she would say.

I use, say, it out of laziness. It’s faster. If I don’t know my audience, I’m more careful.

@canidmajor Who or what are you speaking to?

@zenvelo basically covered what this term means. If you’re speaking respectfully about another person or group, and the way that you talk about them reflects how you actually feel, that’s simple honesty.

If you’re speaking respectfully about another person or group, and the way that you talk is cover for the bigotry you don’t want anyone to see, that’s political correctness, and it’s dishonest.

If you’re a bigot and your speech reflects this, that’s simple honesty.

Unsurprisingly, people who lack respect for others choose to define respectful speech as “political correctness”, to make it sound disingenuous. That makes them feel superior to people whose speech is considerate of others.

@JeSuisRickSpringfield
I’m not the least bit upset about the question.
You seem to be upset by my answer.
Don’t be.
It’s not worth the wear and tear on your spirit

A diabetic is someone with diabetes. It’s not saying a disease is the whole of their character.

To be consistent, we’d have to say, “I’m not a physician: I merely practice the arts of medicine and healing.”

“I’m not Postal Worker, I’m just a male man who has gone postal”

“I’m not a man, I’m just a human with a penis”

Descriptions, categories, even races aren’t intended to be the totality of who someone—or category of someones, it.

@Yellowdog Being a doctor is not the same. Doctors like being identified as a doctor, they spend a lot of time earning the title. Most of them are just fine with everyone focusing on their medical degree. An amputee, epileptic, diabetic, don’t want that to be the overwhelming thing people think of when they are with the person.

Anyway, I’m not here to fight about it, I gave my examples, people can think twice before they use such terms, or they can disregard what I said, I don’t care.

Politically correctness is just another way of saying “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. If you think there is the possibility that it might offend someone or if you feel like you would not like it if the situation were reversed then tone down your rhetoric. It isn’t, or should not be, that difficult.

Does it sometimes feel stupid? Yes. Does it hurt you to do it? No. Is being politically correct infringing on your rights? Not infringing but perhaps limiting somewhat but we need to remember that we don’t just have rights, we have responsibilities that go along with them and it is the balance of rights AND responsibilities that allow us to have a civilized social structure. All rights must of necessity have limits if they are to apply to everyone and it is our responsibility to both know where the boundaries are and to observe them freely. It is when we either refuse to acknowledge or observe the boundaries through our own self control that we lose some of that freedom by having it legislated away.

It is just another way of saying your freedom to swing your fists around stops where my nose begins.

@josie I’m not upset by your answer. I was trying to have a direct discussion. But apparently, you’re satisfied with lame innuendos.

@ARE_you_kidding_me “Look, that’s PC but saying black people instead of the “n” word is not, it’s just being respectful.”

See, that’s exactly why I wanted to know what people think the definition of “politically correct” is. Where I’m from, not being allowed to use the n-word is derided as political correctness all the time. This is why I think discussions like this so often break down: the people having them don’t even know what the other side is trying to say.

The unwillingness of people like @josie to even engage is a good example of the problem. I did not take any stance on what political correctness is in my first answer. I just mentioned how the term seems to be used in the country where I’m from. But from there, a much more specific view was attributed to me because it’s easier to adopt a pose than have a conversation.