Gah!

If you've been reading my maundering for a minute, dear reader, you know that I adore language.  Word play delights me and finding new words with which to express myself is always marvelous.

What bothers me, sometimes to the point of head-twisting, eyeball-rolling, fire-spitting fury is the misuse of language.

Take, for instance, the phrase "reverse discrimination".

Reverse:

adjective

1.

opposite or contrary in position, direction, order, or character:

an impression reverse to what was intended; in reverse sequence.

2.

with the back or rear part toward the observer:

the reverse side of a fabric.

3.

pertaining to or producing movement in a mechanism opposite to that made under ordinary running conditions:

a reverse gear; a reverse turbine.

4.

acting in a manner opposite or contrary to that which is usual, as an appliance or apparatus.   
Discrimination:

noun

1.

an act or instance of discriminating, or of making a distinction.

2.

treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit:

racial and religious intolerance and discrimination.

3.

the power of making fine distinctions; discriminating judgment:

She chose the colors with great discrimination.

4.

Archaic. something that serves to differentiate.

Discrimination of the second definition has become an ugly word, a verb as well as a noun, and it is not a nice label to be pinned with.  It is, sadly, still quite active everywhere, and many types of people have experienced it.

To reverse is to go backwards form or opposite to some reference point.

So what, I ask you, is "reverse discrimination"?  Does that mean that one is indiscriminate?  Does it mean that one is inclusive rather than exclusive?

"Reverse discrimination" is nonsense.  It matters not if one is black, white, purple, or green, male, female, or somewhere in between, if one is treated differently, as lesser or greater, because of the color of one's skin, who one worships, who one loves...?  One has experienced discrimination.  Period.

Would someone please inform the press and various religious, political, and racial groups of this?  The slinging about of the phrase "reverse discrimination" is making my head ache.

Thank you.