Australian of the Year David Morrison is leading a drive against the use of the term "guys" in the workplace.
澳洲年度人物大卫•莫里森发起了一项运动,反对人们在工作场所使用guys The #WordsAtWork campaign by the country's Diversity Council asks people to avoid expressions they say exclude minority groups.
由澳洲多元化协会发起的“工作用语”运动旨在呼吁人们避免使用这类把少数群体排除在外的词语。
Using "girls" for women, and "walk the talk" to people in wheelchairs, are among terms they say are offensive.
称女性为girls,把坐轮椅的人称作walk the talk,多元化协会成员认为这两个称谓都具有冒犯之意。
Mr Morrison was awarded the role of Australian of the Year partly for his equality campaigning.
莫里森先生当选澳大利亚年度人物,部分原因在于他一直致力于追求平等的斗争。
The former military man - once chief of the Australian Army - admitted he had used some of the terms himself.
这名退役军人曾是澳大利亚陆军司令,他承认他过去也说过类似的不礼貌的言辞。
But of "guys" Mr Morrison said "I have now removed that from my lexicon as best I can. I think it's important."
但提到guys时,莫里森先生表示:“现在,我已经尽可能地不再使用这个词语,因为我认为将它从我的个人语库中移除非常重要。”
Insisting the campaign was not intended to create a "language police", he said: "People use language to denigrate others and to take away their self-respect. Sometimes it happens unconsciously, but the effect is the same."
莫里森表示,该活动的初衷并非是塑造一个“语言警察”,他说:“人们用语言诋毁他人,伤害他人的自尊。尽管有时是无意之举,可造成的后果是一样的。”
While some praised the inclusive language drive, not everyone agreed that "guys" was offensive, or that it was the most urgent problem that the Australian of the Year could be tackling.
虽然有人支持这场运动,提倡中性语言,但也并非所有人都觉得guys是一种冒犯,或者认为这场运动是“澳洲年度人物”的当务之急。
Some wondered if the thoroughly Australian greeting "mate" - often used by and for men - would be next.
有人提出,澳洲男性常用的对其他男性的称呼mate是不是会成为下一个争议对象。
Australian National University language expert Catherine Travis also questioned whether "guys" was still a gender-specific term, telling Australia's ABC that "you guys" was now widely used of all genders.
澳大利亚国立大学语言专家凯瑟琳·特拉维斯也对guys是否具有性别针对性提出了质疑,她告诉澳大利亚广播公司,you guys这一说法现在被各种性别的人所广泛使用。
There was broader agreement on some other terms though, including against using "gay" in a negative fashion.
不过,针对其他某些词语的使用,人们达成了更广泛的共识,比如反对在表示负面含义时使用gay。
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