Sideswipe

The computer term "master/slave", referring to primary and secondary hard disk drives, has been named the most politically incorrect term of the year. Other terms on the top 10 list of politically charged words and phrases, issued by the Global Language Monitor, were "non-same sex marriage" to describe heterosexual unions, "waitron" for waiter or waitress and "higher being" for God, a term some people found too religious. Also on the list, a person with liberal politics becomes "progressive" and terrorists in Iraq become "insurgents" instead of terrorists in Iraq. (Source: Reuters)

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Bradley Cryderman of Tauranga has been trying to acquire a Latin dictionary. He went into a local bookshop and asked the adult shop assistant if she had any Latin dictionaries. After searching her computer database for a while, she asked: "Latin - is that a brand name?"

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Suz from ad agency Colenso BBDO diligently spell-checks her email to Greg at George FM:

Hi Greg, just wanted to let you know that I am halfway through the notes ... I've been in too many meetings and am a big behind. Cheers, Suz

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Katherine Williams was kicked out of the public library's community flea market in Tennessee in October because she offered for sale a yellow duck-shaped bath sponge, larger than a football, that happened to vibrate (to the delight of her child, she said). City officials (who were apparently focused on the word "vibrate") concluded that it must be a sex toy and said her booth violated the town's adult-business law. (Source: News of the Weird)

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John Russell bought a new BBQ, with some strange hints on lighting. "Thought I'd offer the following : Just love my new BBQ - it lights first time and does a great job - but I'm going to ignore some of the lighting instructions, paraphrased below:

1. Turn on the gas

2. Turn the LH burner on to full

3. Press the ignition button 3-4 times

4. If that doesn't work, leave it for 5 minutes and come back with a match.

As the gas is still flowing, I'm likely to lose more than my eyebrows and beard. Shall stick to safer methods of ignition ... "

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Give the bird to ignorant MP claptrap: Seems Deborah Coddington is not the only one in a muddle over basic sex education. The New York Post reports: "Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programmes have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the Aids virus, and that touching a person's genitals 'can result in pregnancy', a congressional staff analysis has found." One curriculum claims that "HIV, the virus that causes Aids, can be spread via sweat and tears".