Many of the words added to the offensive list are those people of a certain age - non-Millennials - would use everyday, unaware of their new meaning.

The first one, I was already aware of, and genuine apologies to friends with this name. It’s Karen. In its new derogatory meaning, it is used to refer to an entitled middle-class white woman who complains about everything and usually demands to see the manager.

The male equivalent is Ken, although I’m not sure this is anywhere near as widely used.

The next addition to the list is gammon, which really threw me as I’ve only ever heard it used to refer to meat. But apparently it’s used to describe right-wing, pro-Brexit men. I’ll have to be careful what I order the next time I go into the butcher.

More-obviously offensive terms included are 'libtard', 'remoaner', 'snowflake' and 'boomer'.

By adding these and other derogatory terms, critics have accused Ofcom of being ‘woke’ – ironically, another term likely to be added to the list.

Here is the list with the full explanation of why each one could be deemed offensive:

Karen: A pejorative term for an obnoxious, angry, entitled, and often racist middle-aged white woman 

Gammon: A term referring to the colour of a person's flushed face when expressing their strong opinions, associated particularly with right-wing Brexiteers

Libtard: A word used to describe people on the political left who are perceived to be easily offended, 'woke' and overly politically correct

Snowflake: Someone perceived as too sensitive, easily offended and outraged

Feminazi: A term used to describe an outspoken and radical feminist

Boomer: An insult for baby boomers who are perceived to be out of touch and dismissive of younger generations

Remoaner: Someone against Brexit perceived to be constantly complaining about it 

Terf: A 'trans-exclusionary radical feminist' - used to describe people who reject the assertion that trans women are women and are opposed to trans-rights legislation 

There are obviously more serious considerations with terms such as terf, which refers to a charge of discrimination, and trampling on rights, rather than flippantly referring to someone who has a short temper, or is unhappy the UK is out of the EU.

So while Ofcom is updating its dictionary for reviewing complaints, the rest of us need to mind our Ps and Qs and be especially careful if you bump into Karen in the butcher, while ordering a joint of ham.

Much like when David Cameron got in a muddle when signing off important documents LoL, you wouldn’t want to call your boss, Karen, a woke, feminazi snowflake, whatever meaning you intended. And you can't brush it off as 'bants'.

It won’t end well and they definitely will be demanding to see the manager.

#language #ofcom #offensivelist #karen #snowflake #boomer #gammon #remoaner