I am familiar with the definition of the expression as it has developed through usage. However, I think it’s important to remember its origins as a pejorative meant to criticize those who think it’s important to “minimize social and institutional offense.” Your mileage may vary.

When it comes to oversensitivity I guess I’d rather err on the side of caution. Life is painful and difficult enough as it is. I’m sure you don’t intentionally offend others — I’m just saying one person’s “people are oversensitive” is another’s “we should try to be thoughtful.”

As far as the whole “tree” thing is concerned, I am both a Christian and a huge fan of the Constitution. I try to be aware of the fact that (the tireless work of revisionist “historians” to the contrary) this is not a Christian nation.

I don’t give a hoot in a holler what the thing is called: I don’t think taxpayer dollars should be spent to put up Christmas trees, holiday trees, Hanukkah bushes, or Festivus poles, period. Somehow, and this may be heretical to some people, the nation will survive the month of December without displays of objects associated with specific religions on government property.

This is, of course, far afield of what you originally opined. Just wanted to let you know I wasn’t disagreeing with your position: calling a Christmas tree a holiday tree strikes me as silly, too, and I don’t know a single atheist, agnostic, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. who thinks it should be called a holiday tree. Everyone knows what it is.

(Yes, I was digging around a fair amount here, never having been here before and liking what I see. I won’t be a regular but I will drop in from time to time. Nice place.)

No offense to Miss Manners, but I’m using the phrase more in line with Wikipedia’s listed definition: “Political correctness (adjectivally, politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, disability and age-related contexts.”

The move to replace Christmas trees with “holiday trees” is still, in my opinion, a very politically correct move.

I think Miss Manners definition makes a blanket statement about everyone who uses the word by lumping everyone together with a fringe group of racists who wish they could still say hateful words like that. I think filtering out hate speech is important, but the pendulum has begun to swing too far in the other direction in recent years and, in my opinion, people have become oversensitive about certain words and practices. That’s how we end up calling Christmas trees “holiday trees.”

IOW it was coined by people who want to be able to call others spics, kikes, or whatever nasty word they like. Maybe I’m missing something, but you don’t seem to be that kind of person.

Perhaps you might want to consider using the word “heretical” which means “going against the accepted wisdom” and connotes the sense of “oh, no — he didn’t!” which you seem to desire.