Yep, Dan Savage put it best – “put your money where your mouth is, and prove it is a choice.”

Here’s a quick guide if you’re still confused.

Is the reason the word is considered offensive due to it being derogatory, regardless of context?

1. Yes – don’t use it.
2. No – don’t use it in polite company.

It’s not difficult.

Yeah, sorry, I don’t find your argument particularly compelling when it’s in the comments section of an article designed to undermine someone for calling out another for using derogatory words, when statements like “it’s political correctness gone mad!” have been bandied about without a hint of irony.

Guess what? You shouldn’t be using that word either!

1. Hoax. Aside from the fact that BCE and CE are now commonly used in academic research, particularly in the field of History (because, you know, not every historian in the western world is a Christian), neither AD nor BC have been dropped by the BBC. In fact, they’re being used interchangeably.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2011/sep/26/1

2. Actually not true at all, much like the previous one. What has actually happened is that there were guidelines issued on how to use gender-neutral language in order to ensure there will be no written communications or publications using language that would imply one gender is superior to the other, and that there are situations where linguistic nuances make it impossible to avoid.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/publications/2009/0001/P6_PUB%282009%290001_EN.pdf

3. Just like in the UK in 1987? Since there are no actual references to this aside from some right-wing clickbait website with an obvious agenda, it’s hard not to chuck that into the “BS” bin.

4. Except that the people involved were choosing to “update” the character, and even had this to say: “Benjamin Gray, executive manager of Beano publisher DC Thomson, said: “The storylines are very much influenced by what is going on in the UK now, just as they always has been.

“Quite a lot has changed over the years. Children now grow up in a world of reality TV, downloads and iPods.

“We have to take account of that and reflect what kids get up to but things won’t change too much because that unique Dennis charm will still be there.

“Other things have changed since Dennis first appeared in the comic. We can’t slipper him any more, which his father is very unhappy about! What was socially acceptable then is not acceptable now.”

But Mr Gray said the new-look Dennis will represent old-fashioned fun.

“One of our driving ambitions in the comics and animation is to present children with a world where they aren’t so constrained by political correctness or health and safety, where they can enjoy the thrill of being naughty in their imagination through Dennis.”

The references to “Dennis the Menace getting a PC makeover” comes from The Sun, a paper noted for it’s total lack of journalistic integrity. Draw your own conclusions.

5. Nope. It’s due to unfunny idiots constantly making dumb jokes and the people at the council canteen were tired of them. Nothing to do with political correctness, everything to do with puerile idiocy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8243648.stm

6. This one was a hoax. Google it.

7. And much like no. 3, this same accusation has been leveled at both a government agency in Ireland and a council in Kent. In these cases, 9 times out of 10, it’s false.

8. Have you actually read the story that it’s talking about? The tabloids ran wild with this in 2010, and managed to contradict itself because that same ad with that wording appeared on their site. In other words, it was tabloid rags running wild with a non-story to rile up anti-PC idiots. Once again, google it.

9. Gillingham banned celery because said “fans” were throwing it at Stannard and singing a mocking verse at him. Google it.

10. False.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/christmas/hohoho.asp

11. This same story gets updated every year, the latest being the Obamas being the ones with a “holiday tree.” Simply put, Christmas has never been banned anywhere, ever, where it’s celebrated as a mainstream holiday.

‘Holiday Tree’ Hooey

Seriously, that entire list can be debunked with a google search. Try harder next time.

Honestly, Stewart Lee put it so much better than anyone else when talking about “political correctness gone mad.”

“The kind of people that say “political correctness gone mad” are usually using that phrase as a kind of cover action to attack minorities or people that they disagree with. I’m of an age where I can see the difference that political correctness has made – when I was 4 years old, my grandfather drove me around Birmingham, where the Tories had just fought an election campaign saying ‘If you want a n—-er for a neighbour, vote Labour,’ and he drove me around, saying ‘this is where all the coons, the n—ers and junglebunnies live,’ and I remember being at school in the early ’80s and my teacher, when he read the register, instead of saying the name of the one Asian boy in the class, he would say ‘is the black spot in?’ right? And all these things have been gradually eroded by political correctness which seems, to me, about – to be about a kind of institutionalised politeness at its worst. And if there is some fallout from this, which means that someone in an office might get in trouble one day for saying something that someone was a bit unsure about ’cause they couldn’t decide it was sexist, or homophobic, or racist, it’s a small price to pay for the massive benefits and improvements in the quality of life for millions of people that political correctness has made. It’s a complete lie that allows the right which controls media now and international politics to make people on the left that are concerned about the way people are represented, look like they’re killjoys. And I’m sick, I’m really sick– 84% of you in this room that have agreed with this phrase, you’re like those people who turn around and go, “you know who the most oppressed minorities in Britain are? White, middle-class men.” You’re a bunch of idiots.’

The “f word” isn’t actually derogatory towards anyone, and the “c-word” shouldn’t be used, because it’s a word that hates women.

The word “faggot” on the other hand is designed specifically to alienate and dehumanise gay people, making them objects of hatred in a heteronormitive society. Your comparison falls apart because the words you’re talking about largely involves people who have enjoyed privilege. “Faggot,” on the other hand, targets a group of people that haven’t enjoyed that same privilege. It’s not rocket science.

People deserve to be called out on their bigotry, and homophobia is no better than racism. What I’d like to know is, why is one form of bigotry acceptable and not the other?

Pretty much. Unless you’re going to follow up “I ask myself, is any homophobic comment so outrageous that it must be publicly exposed and re-education imposed on the person making it?” with “Yes, don’t be an idiot,” then you might want to really, really think about what you’re saying. Bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry is bigotry, regardless of how you try to dress it up, and if you use words like “faggot” or whatever else, you deserve to be called out on it.

Would there be questions about Pocock’s potential return to the Wallabies captaincy if he’d called out a player using racial slurs?

A failure to retain players would also probably be symptomatic of the financial woes that has plagued the ARU for some time now. It wasn’t just top-level players leaving, but also the depth as well.

You’re thinking of his brother Sitaleki.

The McCaw one is particularly egregious, since there is a fairly disturbing pattern of players clearly deliberately targeting McCaw and the judiciary either giving the player a punishment that amounts to a slap on the wrist, or even worse, outright ignoring the incident and pretending it didn’t happen. When they are forced to acknowledge that there was an act of blatant thuggery, the judiciary can’t sweep it under the carpet quick enough. It’s hard to take any statements pertaining to concussions from World Rugby seriously, when there’s a clear and obvious case of selective application of the judiciary process, especially when it involves McCaw being on the receiving end.

Yeah, actually it does hurt people. If he did supply it to others, he hurts them, and by purchasing cocaine, which I am going to go ahead and assume the producers do not pay taxes for the sales, it helps continue financing an industry that props up the cartels that prey on the weak and vulnerable.

Not to mention that the Wallabies have done well in the past selecting only Australia-based players. Hell, it got them two world cups in the 90s!

The New Zealand model should be what the ARU aspires to, in that they’re effectively combating encroachment from other sports and maintaining a strong player production base. Selecting overseas players is a short-sighted panic-induced non-solution that will do little other than to further damage an already hurt domestic game, when what should be happening is better support for grassroots and provincial-level games and to have the patience to let the NRC settle in before throwing the baby out with the bathwater like they did the last time.

Here’s a more accurate list (and by “accurate,” I mean “entirely my opinion, which is clearly objectively better than yours”):

In no particular order (other than the first 5 being current players, remaining 5 will being past players but restricted to the professional era)

1. Mike Ross (Ireland) – The veteran Irish prop seems shockingly underrated by how infrequently he’s mentioned in these sorts of things. Regardless, he’s been the cornerstone of one of the better packs in European rugby. He’s also provide some nice experience and depth to the tighthead side of the All Blacks scrum.

2. Eben Etzebeth (South Africa) – Top quality lock that will be a long-term big-value asset for the Boks. Massive ticker with an air of controlled menace, like a taller Brad Thorn.

3. Dylan Hartley (England) – One of the better hookers in Europe, plus he was born in New Zealand, damnit.

4. Fumiaki Tanaka (Japan) – Massively underrated 9, who has always picked up the slack for Smith in the final quarter. Would be discussed as being among the best in the world if he was playing for a Tier 1 nation.

5. Mamuka Gorgodze (Georgia) – Like Tanaka, lacks the high profile of Tier 1 number 8s. His aggression will need to be focused in a positive direction, and would be a potential match-winner in the final quarter, replacing Jerome Kaino.

6. Martin Johnson (England) – Should’ve been an All Black, but wasn’t to be.

7. Will Greenwood (England) – The old Conrad Smith, basically. He was the brains of the England backline until 2003 that played some beautiful rugby, even if some would hate to admit it. If he’d been at 13 outside Ma’a Nonu at 12, the 2003 RWC would’ve been as good as the All Blacks’ at that tournament.

8. John Eales (Australia) – Quite possibly the most talented forward not named Zinzan Brooke to ever play the game. A master in the air and inexplicably had an incredible boot.

9. George Gregan – The Aussie that we all love to hate and we love him for it. He had his share of detractors but just about everything the guy did on the pitch, from the way he bossed the Aussie backline, manipulated the ref and the way he knew exactly when to put the perfect verbal dig in, was all class.

10. Christophe Lamaison (France) – For starters, that 1999 RWC semifinal probably would’ve turned out a lot different. I’ll just leave it at that. On his day, a fine 10 that would’ve easily accepted the Pepsi Challenge against any other 10 in test rugby.

You first moniano, if that is your real name.

Maybe he shouldn’t have sent them in the first place. If it is Patston, then she was entirely entitled to hold on to the text messages. Beale has no one but himself to blame.

You can also bet your house on Palu getting injured at some point during or before the test series, resulting in either Higginbotham or McCalman getting the 8 jersey as well.

Joubert didn’t make France get caught int the dead zone between the two 10m lines either side of halfway on the Eden Park pitch for much of the final quarter, he certainly didn’t make Trinh-Duc miss what could have been a match winning penalty, he didn’t make Yachvilli miss all his kicks at goal earlier in the game and he didn’t make Doussain drop the ball at the 77th minute as soon as he caught a glimpse of McCaw.

Because this “rough patch” is directly linked to policies put in place by the SARU and can (and will) have serious consequences for domestic rugby in South Africa.

Has he? Dang. Just the one cap in a losing test seems criminal considering how he was the best Aussie tighthead for ages before his call-up.

In which case, I would go with Slipper and Weeks as the tightheads, Alexander in the Ben Franks utility prop role and Robinson as the loosehead.

IIRC, Dan Palmer’s contract with Grenoble is only for 2014, which allows him to return to Australia in time for the 2015 RWC. If he does indeed return, then he should be one of the 4 (as is customary for 30-man squads) props that the Wallabies pick alongside Robinson, Kepu/Alexander and Slipper.

And honestly, considering how most players’ professional careers tend to span about 10~15 years, a 3-year window is fairly reasonable.

Not all countries have identical laws relating to citizenship though.