Microsoft Word has “gone woke”

Why am I not surprised?

My DH wrote a chink in the darkness yesterday on a newspaper site. It was blocked so he entered a glimmer in the dark, which was then allowed. Chink meaning a narrow opening!

Hello! Have you just arrived from the 1970s? Welcome to the 21st century

Marydoll mentioned yesterday about having an email rejected because of an “offensive” word. Now it has arrived at your keyboard to train you to be “woke”.

So long as Word allows you to over-rule it’s directives (not always easy!) I think it’s a good idea. People don’t always keep up with changes in language, and it can be really important to avoid giving offence in work-based documents, Joe those going out to a wide audience. If it makes the writer stop and think before making their own decisions it sounds like a good thing to me.

its ?. I wish Autocorrect gave us more autonomy too!

Our post lady or our post man, depends on who does the delivery, both lovely people. Postal person, so de humanised, like a robot.

Pinkarolina

Hello! Have you just arrived from the 1970s? Welcome to the 21st century

This is all very well but changing what someone said is a slippery slope. How much history has been changed? Do we know what is true anymore?

I shudder to think what would have happened if I had ever written about lovely Hattie who was, as you may know a girl dog of a certain colouring.

Is hat you Lawrence?

www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2020/jan/21/how-the-word-woke-was-weaponised-by-the-right

Nothing's being changed without your approval. Same as people being able to stick with terrible grammar and misspellings, Word isn't telling you what to write. Its just suggesting you might like to be a bit less biased.

It’s like a mad game to catch someone out!

Someone will always be offended.

Having been born in 1963 I was brought up to use the expression “ half caste” to describe someone of mixed race, a football pundit the same age as me lost his job for using the expression.

He was not being racist or rude it was just an error.

The expression mixed race is apparently now not acceptable, according to some “combined heritage”is the correct term.

How are we expected to keep up?

How are we expected to keep up?

When someone tells you that a phrase isn't acceptable any more, stop using it. It's not hard and you're not the victim.

I'm older than you and I would never use the term half caste. Becuase I've been paying attention.

And yet, as explained in this week's Word of Mouth, it will still not recognise any names that are not WASP and will change them to words it recognises. What's "woke" about that?

It doesn't change anything.

Like I said, pay attention and stop pretending to be the victim.

How are we expected to keep up?
Perhaps by being given a gentle reminder (which you can ignore if you choose) when you inadvertently type a word that is now considered offensive?

Isn't that better than being publicly hauled over the coals, or than causing someone to be upset when you didn't intend to?

Alegrias1 The goal posts keep moving.

Is that what it is? I tried to write a review for a small local business recently, asked for by some organisation or another, and it would not let it go through. I did wonder why, as it was polite, gentle and singing their praises. So, I wrote an email directly to the company, and was thanked by return.
I despair, I really do, and yes, I am a dinosaur.

Alegrias1

It doesn't change anything.

Like I said, pay attention and stop pretending to be the victim.

And sit up straight when I’m talking to you! ?‍??‍??‍?


Blimey

Sago

Alegrias1 The goal posts keep moving.

I haven't found that to be the case.

The description you cite, for instance, (i don't want to type it again) has been considered derogatory for years.

I hate the term "woke". What ever does it mean? Being polite and not offending anyone may be?

Why are people so cross when it is suggested that words are used more carefully? I just don't get it.

I think the majority of people are not deliberately offensive but sometimes inadvertently use words and phrases they grew up with.

Having been married to an immigrant I am, perhaps, more aware that the words I grew up with are not acceptable now, however if someone my age does use such a word or phrase I can accept they are not being deliberately offensive - and isn't that the point here?

I agree Oldwoman70, people are not usually being deliberately offensive, but why don't people accept that things have changed and we can't use the language that we used to? Even if we don't mean to be discriminatory, we sometimes are inadvertently. So for me, the right answer is to learn that things have changed and not to stick to our guns saying that it was fine in our day and people now are just snowflakes.

My DF, ex-RAF, uses a particular expression that is just completely unacceptable now. I tell him every time I hear it, but he's 86 and I've given up hope of getting to get him to change.

Anyone who is less than 60 years old, though, needs to be more attentive to what society is like now and not complain about moving goalposts and how hard it is.

Alegrias1

It doesn't change anything.

Like I said, pay attention and stop pretending to be the victim.

Sorry. It wasn't WoM this week, it was a couple of weeks ago. The contributor, Dhruti Shah, said that the MS autocorrect keeps changing her name to "Dorito". Couldn't get more Silicone Valley than that! *

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ysv9

*Actually, now I think about it, there are plenty of Indians in Silicone Valley. When my son and family lived there they had practically no English or German friends. But I expect they are the ones doing the coding and keeping things going and not involved in policy-making.

Surely it has reached ridiculous levels when Postman Pat is unacceptable?