What’s the beef with inclusive language?

“My son has got beef with it”, the father said to me last week.?

These were the words of someone explaining his 4 year old’s latest troubles about not getting enough screen time. It wasn't the screen time that bothered me, it was the saying “got beef”. I haven’t heard that for decades and I’m here to tell you it’s is apparently back in our vernacular.?

Back when I lived in Germany I spent many a moment trying to explain the idiosyncrasies of English sayings like these. A language that was not my parent’s native, but the one they inherited through the Empire. Even today I find myself explaining sayings such as “I’d bite your arm off for that” to some of my colleagues who didn't grow up with the same idioms that I did.

What is the beef?

To have beef with something translates to German as 'von etwas angenervt sein'. Quite literally 'to be annoyed by something'. An apt saying to explore today given how some people are feeling about Oxfam’s inclusive language guide . Just as it was lauded by many working in ED&I mid last week, predictably it was being hauled through the woke fire by the weekend.?

If I cast my mind back to my time in Germany, I wonder how I would teach some of what’s in the guide. Let’s go back to the sentence I started this article with and ask how your interpretation would change if I’d written:

“My child has got beef with it”, the parent said to me last week.?

Proponents of inclusive language say terms like ‘child’ and ‘parent’ could make the story more relatable for more people - in this instance same sex couples, trans parents or perhaps single parents. Managing how much screen time a child is common amongst many, so this phrasing may open it up to more options of who the two people in my sentence are. However, rather than opening up our imaginations, it’s instead creating fear.?

The fear, it seems, is being stoked by those arguing that inclusive language is an impingement on freedom, typically of speech. It presents a form of policing, often by the ‘woke brigade’ or the ‘woke mob’ (the jury is still out on the right collective noun) who have lost sight of reality and how people actually see themselves. TikTokers with accounts using #antiwoke and established media companies are honing in specifically on the guidance to say 'parent' rather than 'mother' or 'father' is their hook. This, in turn, sparks a debate about erasure that is causing tremendous division across society - a division that requires more space than this blog post to explore.

What's behind the beef?

I’d argue that the core of clash around inclusive language is down to Brexit Britain going through a Vergangenheitsbew?ltigung (literally: coming to terms with the past - a term coined in Germany after the Second World War). We're trying to fathom British identity under a British Indian prime minister, with a spotlight on migration, and with a very recent disconnection from our closest neighbours - Europe - with the possibly of a disconnection even closer to home - Scottish independence. An exploration and examination of our language is only inevitable with so much in flux.

This is something we have set out to unpack at The Unmistakables, not least because we are commonly asked about inclusive language and because we look at communications through the lens of inclusivity. Our language working group explores how language and words are evolving over time, and what this means for culture. We will often bring in experts from our collective of culture-makers who help us and our client partners to gain a wider perspective.

What we experience time and time again is that language is incredibly personal and what might be acceptable for one person isn’t for another. It's also forever evolving - for example contestants on TV shows and job applicants are more commonly saying 'my partner' rather than 'my wife' or 'my husband' as it covers a wider gamut of relationships.

Being fluent in inclusion goes beyond individual words, however. What’s at the heart of this is whether we have a mindset and a hope for a better future for everyone. Inclusive language is often developed to provide more balance and options, however if it’s presented as a way of policing and as a fait accompli it generates more confusion, which is why context is everything.

Without context and a shared mindset, changes and a sense of being imposed upon through a 92-page-PDF can generate worry for many, which is only exacerbated during these times of continued health, economic and political uncertainty.?Oxfam isn't the first and won't be the last with an inclusive language guide - they've just demonstrated that this pendulum will keep swinging in the British psyche for some time.

Now back to my opening sentence about beef.

While I didn’t have advice about how to teach their child about consequences of screen time, when it comes to inclusive language I wonder if all that is to be said is:

“Don’t have a cow ”