Dyspeptic Screed #1

    I am so goddamned sick of the word “around”.

    Have you noticed this word plaguing our language? It’s used by people who are trying to be gentle and sensitive to indicate that there might be complexity, but without having to take a stance, try to interpret, or really say what they mean. On a podcast I listen to today, it was used this way: “Yes, I am uncomfortable about some of thing things you say around race & gender.” I get what they’re saying, and if I’m going to be one of the cool kids who pretends as though descriptivism is possible I guess I shouldn’t raise an objection. But it’s not stuff people say “around” race & gender. It’s stuff people say about race & gender.

    This isn’t wholly a windmill-tilt, though it is kind of, I know. I get the sense that people use this word in an attempt to soft-pedal disagreements and communicate some kind of generalized anxiety about a complicated topic. Which is fine, I guess, but in the end it’s just mealy-mouthed and meaningless, a priviliging of comfort over clarity, and an allergy to even the hint of conflict, which — well, suffice it to say I am unconvinced that the aversion of conflict is a wholly, or even largely, valuable goal. If ideas and values never come into conflict, then they never have to change. That’s bad. That’s a bone-deep conservatism that damages discourses and blunts conversations.

    So just cut out the wishy-washy bullshit. Say what you mean. Don’t say "around". Say “about”. And be specific. You’re not helping anybody by trying to be sensitive; you’re just failing to say anything.