Challenges of Language Sensitivity - Kylee Gwartney

Often times it can be difficult to know if the language we use could be offensive to someone, especially if we're less familiar with certain cultures. Looking through Padgett at "Getting the Right Words", I saw several words I didn't know and many I wouldn't dare think of using. It's the less offensive sounding words that are tricky. For instance, it's not okay to refer to a little person as a dwarf. It's also offensive to call a Native American young man a "brave." I have no idea why that is either. How could the word brave be offensive? Certain spells are different too. It isn't proper to spell Quran like Koran when mentioning the Muslim holy book. As I type this the computer is saying that Quran is the incorrect spelling, but it's the preferred one by that culture. I wouldn't have thought saying that someone is "confined to a wheelchair" would be offensive either. The more I think about it though, the more I can see how it would be. It's little things like that that we have to be aware of and look out for.