Applied Languages

Workers at the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission have been issued with a style guide to stop them using phrases deemed to be politically incorrect. It is one of a series of Government quangos seeking to ban a number of words which it is believed could cause offence.

Expressions including “right-hand man” and “gentleman’s agreement” have been condemned by some other institutions and in certain cases, workers were urged to avoid using vocabulary which could be construed as offensive.

At the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, staff were advised to use the phrase “miserable day” in lieu of “black day.” Employees were also provided with a style guide encouraging them to show “political sensitivity” and avoid vocabulary which could cause offence.

A spokesman said: “Staff have been advised that certain phrases could carry a hierarchical value. “The general advice is consider sensibly how language might be perceived by people and think about how certain phrases could cause offence.”

Meanwhile terms such as “black sheep of the family,” “black looks” and “black mark” were singled out by the South West Regional Development Agency in England, in accordance with guidelines issued by the TUC, a spokesman said.

At the National Gallery in central London, staff were discouraged from using the terms “right-hand man” and “gentleman’s agreement” which could be considered offensive to women.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the changes would do little to combat real discrimination. “These silly rules are a waste of time and money, and do no actual good for race relations,” he said.

“It is absurd to ban words and phrases that even the authorities themselves acknowledge have no link to race at all.

“The sad thing is that this political correctness is harming the English language whilst reinforcing an atmosphere of paranoia about perfectly reasonable phrases.”

Read more: Belfast Telegraph

People have long been lusting over la dolce vita and Italy has successfully cultivated an image of beautiful people engaged in romantic trysts set against a backdrop of stunning country – so it’s fitting that the rolling, passionate accents of the Italians have come out top in a new survey to find the most romantic language in the world…

A recent survey from tripadvisor.it asked French, Spanish and English travelers which language they considered to be the most romantic.

There is a certain quality possessed by the Italian language that makes it sound incredibly expressive and the rolling r’s and sensual sounds of Italy helped it to win the title, with 31 per cent of French, 15 per cent of Spaniards and 23 per cent of British travelers saying that Italian is the most romantic accent in the world.

French took second place whilst the bronze medal went to Spain.

The rich culture of Italy has brought about a subconscious association of anything romantic with the Italian language.

Italy’s culture is loaded with passion, from the honeymooners kissing in a gondola in Venice, to escaping from it all in a villa in Tuscany, to strolling through ancient cobbled streets in Florence. The music, architecture and art created in Italy also adds to the romantic identity of the country.

The soft sounds of Italian, French and Spanish came out far higher than the hard sounds of other languages such as German.

When it came to choosing the cities that most inspired a romantic affair, Rome won with 18 per cent of the total vote, followed by Venice is second with 10 per cent and then Florence with nine per cent.

Read more: The Move Channel