Snowflake university bans staff from using phrases such as ‘black sheep’ & ‘dark web’ in case they cause offence
A UNIVERSITY department has warned staff about using phrases such as “black sheep” and “Indian summer”.
Academics fear that the common terms could offend snowflake students and contribute to stigmas.
Staff at the University of Surrey were handed examples of “non-inclusive words and phrases to be aware of”.
They include swapping the phrase “black sheep” for “renegade”, and to use “ostracise” instead of “blackball”.
“Black and blue” should be swapped for “bruised”, while “Indian summer” should be “warm autumn” or “late summer”.
“Dark web” — the internet’s illicit underbelly — is called the “unindexed web”.
The guidance, created by Mental Health First Aid England, states: “One way to help eliminate bias is to change our language to no longer use ‘black’ and ‘dark’ to mean ‘bad’.”
The uni, which has 16,000 students, said it had not widely adopted the advice — but that the inclusive language dossier had been uploaded by one department as “good practice”.
A spokesperson said: “We welcome a diverse community of UK and international students.
“We are committed to freedom of speech and encourage colleagues to be courteous in their use of language and can see the Mental Health First Aid England guidance was shared at a department level in that spirit.”