quote:
politically correct adj. (a) appropriate to the prevailing political or social circumstances (in early use not as a fixed collocation); (b) spec. (orig. U.S., sometimes depreciative) conforming to a body of liberal or radical opinion, esp. on social matters, usually characterized by the advocacy of approved causes or views, and often by the rejection of language, behaviour, etc., considered discriminatory or offensive (cf. CORRECT adj.); abbreviated PC.
1793 J. WILSON in U.S. Rep. (U.S. Supreme Court) 2 (1798) 462 Sentiments and expressions of this inaccurate kind prevail in our..language... ‘The United States’, instead of the ‘People of the United States’, is the toast given. This is not *politically correct. 1875 N.Y. Times 19 Dec. 2 The other ninety odd thousand charges are all true, and politically correct. 1934 J. STRACHEY Lit. & Dialectical Materialism 47 We are sometimes a little apt to pretend, to wish, to suggest that such writers [sc. Marxists] are necessarily better writers, because they are more politically correct, than are our fellow travelers. 1936 H. V. MORTON In Steps of St. Paul vi. 211 ‘Galatians’, a term that was politically correct, embraced everyone under Roman rule. 1970 T. CADE Black Woman 73 A man cannot be politically correct and a chauvinist too. 1979 Economist 6 Jan. 17/2 His judgement that the time and place called for an attack on the quality and efficiency of the municipal government proved to be politically correct. 1987 Nation 6 June 769/3 Some readers are going to be disappointed by Poirier's insistent effort to keep literature from becoming a weapon-he would say casualty-of the politically correct or incorrect. 2001 Guardian 25 Aug. I. 13/1 Teenage boys are at the least politically correct stage of their lives.
politically incorrect adj. orig. U.S. not politically correct; flouting liberal convention; discriminatory.
1933 Christian Sci. Monitor 28 Nov. 8 The results of a recent investigation of the knowledge of 65,000 Soviet pupils are candidly summed up in the official newspaper, Izvestia, in the following terms: ‘Bad grammar, abundance of mistakes in spelling,..superficial and often *politically incorrect information in civics and social sciences’. 1939 New Republic 9 Aug. 20/1 It isn't just because of rapidly shifting times and attitudes-going back to ‘Lives of a Bengal Lancer’ almost five years afterward, you will find it just as politically incorrect and marvelous as ever. 1977 Washington Post 29 May D2/3 The African Liberation Day Coalition explained that both the other groups held politically incorrect positions. 2000 K. SEWELL in J. Thomas Catwomen from Hell 17 This bike of mine was parked outside in the street,..its genuine, politically incorrect crocodile-skin panniers shining with layers of beeswax polish.
political correctness n. orig. U.S. advocacy of or conformity to politically correct views; politically correct language or behaviour; cf. CORRECTNESS n. 2, politically correct adj. at POLITICALLY adv. Special uses b.
1805 Witness (Litchfield, Conn.) 25 Sept. 3 The constitution presumes that the people are the judges of *political correctness, and has accordingly left the decision to them. 1840 J. D. HAMMOND Hist. Polit. Parties in State of N.Y. 307 Although Mr. Clinton announced that he was against the bank, he was very careful to protest against making a support or opposition to it a test of..political correctness. 1935 Ironwood (Mich.) Daily Globe 28 May 4/8 The effect on wages in private industry would be nil, a circumstance which..presumably does not mitigate against the political correctness of the AFL's position. 1979 Washington Post 16 Sept. (Book World) 13/3 No matter what criticisms are hurled at this feminist fiction, no doubt the author will be cushioned by her political correctness. 2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 27 June 47/2 Political correctness as well as varied economic interests and anti-Semitism dictate that no third-world people can do wrong and no first-world people, right.
ADDITIONS SERIES 1997
correctness, n.
Add: 2. Conformation to a dominant political or ideological orthodoxy: a. spec. in Communist China, adherence to Maoist doctrine (now chiefly hist.). b. In recent (chiefly N. Amer.) use, ellipt. for political correctness; hence with other defining terms, as eco-correctness, environmental correctness, etc.
1955 F. T. C. YU Strategy & Tactics of Chinese Communist Propaganda vi. 59 When professors and scholars praise the ‘correctness’..of Marxism-Leninism, the communists hope that the common people will be more inclined to accept the new ideology. 1957 New Republic 13 May 24/1 The group is also fortified by..an absolute doctrinal authority for the ‘correctness’ of all of its solutions. 1960 T. CHEN Thought Reform of Chinese Intellectuals ii. 9 There is another and more important reason for Communist insistence on ideological correctness. 1977 P. FULLER Jrnl. 29 Mar. in Marches Past (1986) 117 The jostling for rarefied, nuanced, over-tuned theoretical [Marxist] ‘positions’ heats up. As one might expect of 7 Carlisle Street [sc. office of the New Left Review]..everyone vies with each other for the most perverse and punishing ‘correctness’. 1992 N.Y. Times 12 Feb. C1/1 The brilliant new vehicle for environmental correctness, health consciousness and graphic self-expression: toothpaste. 1993 Fort Collins (Colorado) Triangle Rev. 21 Oct. 4/3 The elementary school fanfare is the last hurrah before social correctness cuts them off at the right brain. 1993 USA Weekend 24 Oct. 2/2 He has a broad agenda for eco-correctness.
ADDITIONS SERIES 1997
correct, a.
Add: 4. Conforming to a dominant political or ideological orthodoxy: [b]a.spec. in Communist China, according with or adhering to Maoist doctrine (now chiefly hist.).
1932 M. SHACTMAN tr. L. Trotsky Probl. Chinese Revol. 198 The party will utilize quite differently the discontentment of the masses, if it considers it by reckoning with a correct political perspective. 1950 tr. Liu Shao-Chi On the Party 52 Our Party's correct political line cannot be separated from its correct organisational line. 1951 Ann. Amer. Acad. Pol. & Social Sci. CCLXXVII. 80/2 Another essential idea is the Marxist dogma that there is only one ‘correct’ line of thought and action... The central authorities define what is correct, and..the entire mass membership of any organization is expected to think and act ‘correctly’. 1953 tr. Mao Tse-Tung On Rectification of Incorrect Ideas in Party 1 The failure of the Party's leading bodies..to educate the members along the correct line is also an important cause of the existence and growth of such incorrect ideas. 1960 T. CHEN Thought Reform of Chinese Intellectuals ii. 9 An ideologically correct person..is likely to overcome old habits of thought and action. 1966 TUNG CHI-PING & H. EVANS Thought Revolution iii. 47 Despite his ‘correct’ political attitude, the teachers singled him out for criticism.
b. In recent (chiefly N. Amer.) use, ellipt. for politically correct; hence, with other defining terms, as eco-correct, environmentally correct, gender-correct, socially correct, etc.
1973 S. DAVIDSON in Esquire July 74/1 The mood of the original feminists changed utterly... People recount the rise and fall of groups, the setting up and toppling of ‘correct political lines’, the purges and counter-purges. 1973 A. WALKER in J. O'Brien Interviews with Black Writers 207 To be ‘correct’ she should consider it her duty to let ugliness reign. The most ‘incorrect’ thing about Sammy Lou is that she loves flowers... Whenever you hear a black person talking about the beauties of nature, that person is not a black person at all. 1986 H. J. MARONEY in Mitchell & Oakley What is Feminism? 113 Unable to agree upon a ‘correct’ and effective programme of action, they have dwindled into theoreticism, split, or been reduced to passivity. 1990 Taxation & Environmental Policy (Inst. Fiscal Stud. Commentary No. 19) 3 Ideally, the economically correct procedure in introducing an environmental tax would be to value the economic costs of activities which take place outside of any market, and to calculate a tax level per unit output to reflect these costs. 1991 Raritan Summer 41 Are we..in the business of granting degrees that mean: ‘Your son or daughter has turned out correct. Politically, morally, socially correct; at least, by this year's standards. 1991 New Yorker 16 Dec. 120/2 Not only the merchandise but all the materials used in the construction of the store are about as environmentally correct as is possible these days. 1992 J. & M. STERN Encycl. Pop Culture 398/1 Potato chips are not exactly in style{em}they are too fatty and too salty to be N.C. (‘nutritionally correct’, as determined by health-food killjoys). 1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 6 Jan. B2/4 For the most part, message toys are geared to parents, not to children, and most environmental- and gender-correct toys haven't made much of a dent. 1994 USA Weekend 9 Jan. 28/2 How do you pack the car for an eco-correct family vacation?
