Words are code for the mind. Change the word, and you change the thought; change the thought, and you change the action that follows.
This was the logic behind the “person-first” language that emerged in the nonprofit world. A disabled person became a person with a disability. A homeless man became a person without shelter. At its best, this reminded us that individuals deserve dignity. At its worst, it twisted language into unwieldy shapes. But even in this early form, the seed was planted: words were not just descriptions, they were instruments of perception.
From there, the seed grew into something else entirely. What began as a courtesy metastasized into a strategy. Illegal alien became undocumented immigrant — later even person without papers. Crime was reframed as a clerical mishap, trespass as missing paperwork. The reality did not change, but the story around it did.
Examples abound:
Insane became mentally ill, then mentally challenged, then differently abled, then neurodivergent — until autism and psychosis were jumbled together in one soft word.
Poor became underprivileged, then disadvantaged, then at-risk.
Prisoner became inmate, then justice-involved individual, then returning citizen.
Prostitute became sex worker, and in some corners, even entrepreneur.
This is the euphemism treadmill. When one term wears out — when the public begins to hear the fact beneath the phrase — a new one is minted. The old word is declared harsh; the new word is declared humane. Yet within a few years, the cycle repeats, because the reality has not changed. What wears out is not the word but the illusion.
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Author: Ruth King
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