PC LANGUAGE

Chichester District Council (in Sussex, a southern English county) have issued guidelines that staff should not use the phrase "the man in the street" as a way of indicating the average person. "General Public" is the preferred term according to the guide. "Manning the switchboard" should be superseded by "staffing the switchboard". Our local authorities have too much of our money to throw away on such projects and too short of important other things to do. Why not "de-man" the councils and let them find a proper job.