offensiveness

The commission has rejected the very idea of “replacing accepted scientific names because of perceived offensiveness,” its 26 commissioners wrote in the Zoological Journal in January.

They may not be anyone you know, or they might have radically different standards of offensiveness than you or the rest of society.

While the offensiveness of the conversation commands the headlines, the reason the group met in the first place warrants more attention.

“Is there a clear distinction made between offensiveness and harmfulness to populations when evaluating what content to buy and air?” asked one.

The critically derided lowbrow comedies with which he’s been too long associated tend to fail not due to offensiveness but laziness; it’s refreshing when a new project genuinely seizes his attention and, by extension, ours.