Getting rid of the Nazi letters and the swear words ranking

Names of many climbing routes are offensive, according to 91% of respondents who took part in a poll made by “Snews”, an outdoor-industry magazine. That is why BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) climbers strive to change names, especially of climbing and mountain biking routes. As one example, the “Slavery Wall” in Ten Sleep Canyon, Wyoming, U.S. became the “Downpour Wall”.

Germany will alter the German phonetic alphabet, to eliminate words added by the Nazis. Experts from the German Institute for Standardization work on devising new terms for the problematic letters. “Z” won’t stand for “Zeppelin” anymore, similarly with other words that were introduced in 1934, to get rid of the Jewish-related names, like “D for David” or “S for Samuel”. The new phonetic alphabet should be adopted by late 2022.

The British communications regulator, Office of Communications, created an official rank of every British swear word, classifying its offensiveness. General swears, words related to race and ethnicity, body parts and health conditions, religious insults, sexual references, and even certain hand gestures now have their official rating. More than 200 people rated 150 terms, placing them in the spectrum of mild-medium-strong-strongest.