this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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In our recently submitted grants we had to change “traumatic brain injury” to “concussive brain injury” and “male and female mice” to “male and non-male mice” because traumatic and female are now verboten words that can get our grants killed. It’s insanity.

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[–] Allemaniac@lemmy.world 6 points 5 hours ago

cool to read that you lot use "verboten" as a legit word

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 18 points 10 hours ago

Twenty years ago I was sitting in a city council meeting in middle Statesia where the city engineer was giving an estimate of traffic at an intersection. He described a liberal estimate (in this case the higher estimate) but led them that if he called it a liberal estimate they'd ignore it, so he was redefining conservative estimate to mean the opposite of what it does for all of his estimates just so they wouldn't dismiss them out of hand. And it worked, the dumbfucks on the city council liked the numbers just because he called them conservative.

[–] shplane@lemmy.world 51 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Had to change the wording in my grants from “biodiversity” to “biological variety”. I work in conservation. This is indeed insanity.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 6 hours ago

and you cant say global warming is attributed to human related causes, must be something abstract like cosmic raditation.

[–] nonentity@sh.itjust.works 24 points 13 hours ago

A healthy, broadly educated population, which feels safe and secure, are incompatible with, and toxic to, conservative and authoritarian ideologies.

They need you to be sick, stupid, and scared.

[–] frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world 42 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

list of banned words btw

Activism, activists, advocacy, advocate, enhancing diversity, equal opportunity, equality, equitable, advocates, equity, ethnicity, barrier, barriers, biased, biased toward, biases, biases towards, BIPOC, Black and Latinx, excluded, female, females, fostering inclusivity, gender, gender diversity, genders, hate speech, Hispanic minority, community diversity, community equity, cultural differences, cultural heritage, historically, implicit bias, culturally responsive, implicit biases, disabilities, inclusion, disability, discriminated, discrimination, inclusive, minorities, minority, multicultural, polarization, political, prejudice, privileges, promoting diversity, race and ethnicity, racial, racial diversity, racial inequality, racial justice, racially, racism, sense of belonging, sexual preferences, social justice, sociocultural, socioeconomic status, stereotypes, systemic, inclusiveness, discriminatory, diverse backgrounds, inclusivity, increase diversity, increase the diversity, trauma, underappreciated, diverse communities, Indigenous community, underrepresented, diverse community, diverse group, inequalities, inequality, underserved, diverse groups, inequitable, diversified, inequities, diversify, diversifying, diversity and inclusion, diversity equity, institutional, LGBT, marginalize, marginalized, underrepresentation, underrepresented, underserved, undervalued, victim, women, underrepresented.

[–] mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

What is the source for this list? What things does this ban apply to?

[–] SL3wvmnas@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

There is an overlap with this New York Times Article ( archive )

It seems a list is compiled by observing the words in repealed grants

Noam Ross, a computational researcher part of Grant Watch, told The Chronicle that Grant Watch doesn’t know exactly how grants are flagged for termination, but “suspect that these words are part of a search process for selecting them based on [The New York Times article] and other reporting.”

[–] florp@lemmy.zip 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Many of those words are included on this USDA list of banned words from late March. The list also includes many more.

https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/tracker/usda-leaked-memo-bans-110-terms-from-agreements/

[–] mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 7 hours ago

I like this one since it's straight from the horse's mouth. As expected it is less blatantly horrible. No doubt the other words are indeed also tabooed, but it doesn't surprise me that one's like "female" are secretly rather than explicitly forbidden.

[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 2 points 12 hours ago

At least you know what they are

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 7 points 11 hours ago

Instead of "Leftwing" and "Rightwing", we should just use "Alpha" and "Beta" respectively, just like they wanted. 🤭

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 64 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

So.....it......it was the conservatives that were snowflakes all along?

I did Nazi that coming.

[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 2 points 11 hours ago

I think you did

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 35 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Tell me this: if you were watching a movie and men in black masks were taking people off the street and sending them off, never to be seen again, and those same men were separating children from parents forcibly and locking them all in cages/compounds for months on end....

Would those people in this hypothetical movie, strike you as "good" guys, or "bad" guys?

Because that's what's happening, in real life, in the USA, right now.

Cue the "are we the baddies?" meme.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

It's not that meme, they will never have that moment of revelation because they enjoy what they are doing, and signed up for the chance to hurt others

Humanity contains monsters and we need to stop pretending it doesn't

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 hours ago

Many of the German Nazi's in WW2 believed in what they were doing. Not all of them since there was a nontrivial number that were conscripted, and would have rather not participated in the Nazi thing, but still, it went the other way too.

[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 1 points 11 hours ago

Mitchel and Webb Look

[–] dastanktal@lemmy.ml 4 points 11 hours ago

Wow they didn't need to take the George all real concept of double speak so far

[–] dalekcaan@feddit.nl 44 points 19 hours ago

Well that's doubleplus ungood.

[–] But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 45 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (6 children)

When I was a teenager around my daughter’s age, pre 9/11, this kind of future was the kind of thing you would see in a ridiculous 80s dystopian action movie. We didn’t ever think we’d actually ever allow it to get that far as a society, surely we would rise up to oppose. It’s just wild to my old ass how far we have fallen and how much people just shrug.

I was watching the Netflix hunt for Osama docuseries. And Bin Laden totally won. After 9/11 the US turned on its own people and used the modern technology of the military to set up a mass surveillance system and a way to easily do shit like this. And people allowed it while chanting “USA!” This is all part of it.

On a side note, i can’t wait till The Running Man becomes Reality once Trump starts throwing migrants into a life or death reality show where they’re hunted by neo Nazi ice agents

[–] treesapx@lemmy.world 13 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

And Bin Laden totally won.

I've been pointing this out for about ten years now and it's one of the most unpopular comments I can make, but it only gets more true every year. I've watched police get more authoritarian for decades now and there doesn't seem to be anything curtailing it.

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[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 14 points 18 hours ago

Most powerful nation in the history of mankind and we folded like a cheap suit after some planes flew into some buildings.

It's important to note that a significant cause of our downfall is due to traitors within, including propaganda networks, that took advantage of that incident.

And I was in high school when 9/11 happened too. Watching this all happen in real time has been a pretty sad affair. I don't have much faith left in this nation, nor do I have much patriotism left. I just don't think we've earned a continued democracy. We aren't up to the challenge.

[–] kadup@lemmy.world 11 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (3 children)

The entire rest of the world could always see how proud you were of your "great democracy" and how fragile and inflated it actually was. Took you all a long time to finally to see it too.

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[–] mostNONheinous@lemmy.world 196 points 1 day ago (8 children)

The party that swears there are only Two Genders really seems to only believe in One.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

its like the jk rowling cutscene of harry potter from family guy, where the SORTING HAT said there is only 2 genders, after labeling the girl as a transgender person. sorting hat= these right wingers.

[–] red_bull_of_juarez@lemmy.dbzer0.com 37 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

There are two genders. Male and political.

[–] Karjalan@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

And two races, white and political. And two sexualities, straight and political... Etc.

As God intended.

[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 53 points 1 day ago

Cede conservatives a fraction of an inch and they will take a hundred miles.

First they came for...

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[–] Kyle_The_G@lemmy.world 106 points 1 day ago (4 children)

This is why politics and science shouldn't mix. The truth is the truth, no matter how inconvenient it is to your bottom line.

[–] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 130 points 1 day ago (16 children)

Politics and Science will literally always mix. Science always exists in a political context. It’s not some platonic ideal.

The research that gets funded, published, advertised. The people that have the privilege to get degrees and academia jobs. Is all inherently political. It’s maybe more obvious now with Trump’s meddling, but it literally always has been this way.

I think it’s dangerous to look at science (especially social sciences, political sciences, economics, sociology, psychology etc.) without considering the political context.

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[–] skisnow@lemmy.ca 59 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Wait I thought it was Woke that was supposed to be policing what language we used?

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 28 points 20 hours ago

Something, something, every accusation, a confession

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 64 points 23 hours ago (8 children)

Me trying to get grants for my rat trebuchet

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[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 14 hours ago

Ironically enough, if they used German words for such, it might just pass the Turd Reich censors. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[–] LanguageIsCool@lemmy.world 27 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

Conservatives are fucking morons lmao

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 8 points 18 hours ago

Yup.

Knuckledragging fools that are dragging us down with them.

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[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 26 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

wake up babe, new politically correct has dropped

literally PC culture gone mad

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmings.world 9 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

And we should definitely call it "Politically correct" speech, because that's what it is. They liflke to accuse the left of being politically correct, so let's turn it back on them.

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[–] jsomae@lemmy.ml 33 points 22 hours ago

God, that's so right-woke.

[–] mumblerfish@lemmy.world 57 points 1 day ago (9 children)

I went through some of my papers partially supported by US grants and all of them use a bunch of forbidden words. This is basically pure maths, and you are not allowed to use "equality" as in the relationship between one expression and another is an equality? It is so increadibly stupid. Look:

A dangerous sign of wokeness

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[–] CMahaff@lemmy.world 23 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I watched an interesting video recently on "Lysenkoism".

https://youtu.be/9RTAcbsQXFE

In short, it's a horrible example of what happens when party politics are more important than correct science. And it should all feel very familiar to what's happening in the US right now.

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