The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World

by Andrew Doyle

Such needless and patronising explanations are entirely in keeping with the trigger warning mentality, which perceives adults as being locked in a permanent state of infancy. In the summer of 2021, Brandeis University in Massachusetts published an ‘oppressive language list’ of phrases best avoided by students and staff. Examples included ‘female-bodied’, ‘lame’ and ‘spirit animal’. The phrase ‘person experiencing housing insecurity’ was recommended as an inoffensive alternative to ‘homeless person’. A category headed ‘violent language’ featured phrases such as ‘rule of thumb’ and ‘you’re killing it’; the latter apparently could be misconstrued as an allegation of homicidal intent. This is evidently a university for the congenitally literal-minded.