January 2004 A friend asked me to give some examples of labels used to suppress ideas. I started searching, and the list grew and grew. Most of the terms listed below were found online, in laws, regulations, acceptable use policies, the codes of conduct of schools, universities, businesses, and government agencies, descriptions of web filter criteria, and articles about censorship. It was depressing reading, rather like all the spams I used to read before I tried writing statistical filters. I've tried to include every label used to criticize statements in the past 100 years except truly neutral ones like false, untrue, mistaken, etc. So there are of course contradictions. For example, some web filters forbid access to web sites mentioning homosexuality, whereas many university speech codes forbid remarks critical of it. I've only included labels used in the English-speaking world, which unfortunately excludes the marvellous efflorescence in the Soviet Union and China during the twentieth century. The most interesting thing I found was the Hays Code, which controlled the American movie industry from 1930 to 1966. What a piece of work. I had no idea that it forbade, for example, the depiction of racially mixed couples. Another surprise: I found these labels included some words that I myself use: "unscientific", for example. Is it wrong to call something unscientific? I think it can be. Labels are lazy. It is not enough merely to label an idea as unscientific, or any of the other terms below. One ought to provide more detail. If you made a graph representing which of these words occurred together, I think you'd find the central node was the one representing "inappropriate". That seems the most general (and thus least meaningful) label at the moment. As far as I can tell, it is little more than a five-syllable synonym for "bad".
    ableist
    abnormal
    abusive
    adult
    age-inappropriate
    ageist
    aggressive
    annoying
    anti-arab
    anti-black
    anti-disability
    anti-gay
    anti-intellectual
    anti-semitic
    atheistic
    biased
    bigoted
    blasphemous
    bourgeois
    classist
    coarse
    communist
    corrupting
    critical
    crude
    dangerous
    degenerate
    degrading
    defamatory
    defeatist
    demeaning
    derogatory
    destructive
    deviant
    dirty
    disabilist
    discriminatory
    disgusting
    disloyal
    disrespectful
    disruptive
    distasteful
    disturbing
    divisive
    elitist
    ethnocentric
    erotic
    eurocentric
    exclusionary
    explicit
    extremist
    fascist
    fifth columnist
    filthy
    frivolous
    foul
    gay
    genderist
    graphic
    gross
    harmful
    harrassing
    hateful
    hate-ist
    heterosexist
    holocaust-denying
    homophobic
    homosexual
    hostile
    hurtful
    illegal
    immodest
    immoral
    impertinent
    impious
    impolite
    improper
    impure
    in bad taste
    inappropriate
    indecent
    indecorous
    indelicate
    inflammatory
    insensitive
    insulting
    intimidating
    intolerant
    irregular
    irreverent
    judgemental
    lecherous
    lesbian
    lesbophobic
    lewd
    libellous
    licentious
    lookist
    low
    lubricious
    lustful
    malicious
    menacing
    militant
    misogynistic
    mocking
    morbid
    nationalistic
    nazi
    negative
    objectifying
    objectionable
    obscene
    off-color
    offensive
    orientalist
    out of line
    patriarchal
    perverted
    phallocentric
    pornographic
    prejudiced
    profane
    provocative
    prurient
    questionable
    racial
    racially insensitive
    racist
    radical
    reactionary
    revisionist
    risque
    rude
    sacrilegious
    salacious
    satanic
    scandalous
    scatalogical
    scurrilous
    selfish
    sexist
    sexual
    sexually explicit
    sexually oriented
    shameful
    sinful
    sizeist
    slanderous
    smutty
    speciesist
    stereotyping
    subversive
    suggestive
    supremacist
    tactless
    tasteless
    threatening
    treasonous
    unacceptable
    unamerican
    unauthorized
    unbecoming
    uncalled-for
    unchaste
    unchristian
    uncivil
    unclean
    undemocratic
    undesirable
    undignified
    unethical
    unfair
    unfit
    unfitting
    ungenteel
    unhealthy
    unlawful
    unnatural
    unnecessary
    unmentionable
    unpatriotic
    unprofessional
    unrefined
    unscientific
    unseemly
    unsuitable
    untasteful
    unthinkable
    untoward
    unwanted
    unwelcome
    unwholesome
    outdated
    violent
    vulgar
    wanton
    xenophobic