It seems that colleges are going to put "trigger warnings" on textbooks so the wimps won't read something that might cause them to feel an untoward emotion. Here are some of the words that will be used to scare you away from works of literature.

quote:

Originally posted by Proofreader:
It seems that colleges are going to put "trigger warnings" on textbooks so the wimps won't read something that might cause them to feel an untoward emotion. Here are some of the words that will be used to scare you away from works of literature.

That post is about trigger warnings for blog posts, not textbooks.

I didn't include a story about the warnings being instituted on college campuses. You can find it on the internet.

I can find articles about how students have requested trigger warnings, but I can't find articles about how it has actually happened or is going to happen.

I looked but the original story seems to have disappeared. I used the same search but came up with different results.

Here's an example.

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At Scripps College, lecturers give warnings before presenting a core curriculum class, the "Histories of the Present: Violence," although some have questioned the value of such alerts when students are still required to attend class

Really? Required to attend class? I've not seen that in universities. Further, this link reports that Oberlin College has published an official document on triggers, advising faculty to be aware of racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, ableism, and other issues of privilege and oppression - and to remove triggering material when it doesn't "directly" contribute to learning goals and "strongly consider" developing a policy to make "triggering material" optional.

Both are quite well recognized colleges in the U.S.

Sorry for bumping this, but I am new to the forum and am still wandering around looking at the delights offered by the threads of the recent past.

This one was particularly delightful because the article where the initial posting directed us pretty-well began with a wonderful example of the misplaced modifier: -

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This is a strange fear of holes that some people possess.

Actually, I do have such a fear, and so, fervently wish to steer clear of any and all holes possessed by most people!

One might try the following alternative diction for the definition:

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Some people possess this strange phobia - to wit, a fear of holes.

Holey phobia, Batman.

Welcome, WeeWilly! I actually have a funny hole story that just happened to my son.

His friend and new wife just bought a new starter home, which was really a fixer upper. They were doing lots to it, but were proud so invited people over. There was a huge hole in the ground, which they had covered up with brown paper. Well, my wayward son, of course, stepped on the paper and fell into the hole, somehow also ruining their new screen door in the process (probably grabbed it).

That's enough, right? No. Do you know what our newly married couple did then? They got David out, and again covered up the hole with paper. Ah, but this time his mother-in-law came to visit - and you've got it. She fell into the hole this time!

I can't believe they covered the hole with paper the first time - but a second time?

Cissexism? That's a new one for me. I looked it up and found a definition but no etymology. Was this term plucked from thin air?

Good to have you aboard, WeeWilly!

Geoff, here is a discussion of it. Interestingly, it also has a synonym.

Still no etymology. What's the "cis" bit?

Latin "cis" ("on this side"), first used in the term
cis-andine n. on this side the Andes.
in 1876

I've only come across 'cisalpine' that I can recall.

The only "cis" I previously knew about was the Italian Cisitalia car. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisitalia No connection to the word in question, though. However, I had heard of "cisalpine," but saw no connection. Thanks for setting it straight.