the wub wrote:
On 10/15/06, Jimmy Wales jwales@wikia.com wrote:
the wub wrote:
Addressing the example - this IS a (possibly the most) widely propagated example of political correctness gone mad in the UK. Just google for "blackboard political correctness". However I can't for the life of me find
the original story that led to this (if there was one in the first place)
Precisely. It has all the flavor of an urban legend. I found many many messageboard posts which claimed it as fact, but no one seems to have a source. Perhaps it is true, after all, but the initial evidence seems to suggest otherwise.
An urban legend so prominent in fact that it is mentioned in a government report (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/03/mepess/10 - section 6.64) :-) I honestly wouldn't be that surprised if it was true, but I agree that if no one can find evidence, it doesn't belong in Wikipedia.
Not so quick. If a claim has developed the status of a widely believed urban legend we need to say something about it, if only to establish that it is indeed an urban legend. Readers who have heard about this from a friend of a friend can then come to us to be assured that the idea has no basis in fact.
Ec