The Ohio State University's linguistic workbook, Language Files, spells it out for us: "Associated with the stereotype of politeness, we have the stereotype that women are more prescriptively correct than men are. ... Many men think that prescriptive grammar is trivial and therefore not worth worrying about. Since women worry about such matters [as correctness], they have been stereotyped as being concerned with the small, unimportant issues in life." (2) If, as a result of stereotyping, correctness has picked up a whiff of fussiness and rectitude, then some academics probably use the phrase ironically, and humorously, when they understate their political acumen by calling themselves politically correct instead of politically brilliant or brilliantly political.

Gaining ground for women and minorities has been tough. When you feel that you understate the importance of your achievements and commitment - and when you mean ideology, although you say correctness - that's not mere metonymy, sports fans. That's irony.

Irony begets irony. Whereas an active woman may refer to herself as politically correct and marvel that she's come a long way, a reactionary male may wonder just how far she's going. He would probably interpret her pointing to herself and saying, me, politically correct, as devious in the extreme and his fear would run along these lines: she really plans to take over the company, but she's told management that she and her friends want only to correct the system. In so saying, deduces the worried executive, she's chosen Orwellian double-speak to express herself ironically: she has substituted one word's meaning for another. She's used the infinitive "to correct," he thinks, when she really means "to take-over."

What's been turned up by all this poking at a single phrase? Contradiction, opposites, suggestiveness, understatement, substitution and balderdash. Analysis of political correctness can provide hours of fun for anyone interested in the function of irony at the present time.

Because, you finally realize, political correctness has deconstructed itself to the point that it has no conventional meaning. It has turned into a joke, a linguistic clown that easily wears whatever moral mask you want it to wear. Should you apply political correctness to the agenda of some stranger, you want the expression to hold up its ironic frowning- smiling face: a politically correct "other" usually connotes someone who's badly directed. Should you apply political correctness to yourself and your friends, you need the ironic smiling-frowning face: a politically correct "self' connotes someone with good intentions. Political correctness rather neatly illustrates the power games that language allows people to play.

Barbara Yitsch, Ph.D., works for Duncan's English Language Consulting Ltd. in Edmonton, Alberta as a language researcher.

1. Anderson, Martin, Imposters in the Temple, New York: Simon and Shuster, 1992.
2. Ohio State University, Language Files, Reynoldsburg: Advocate Publishing Group, 1987, p.366.