"Man overboard!" Wait a minute... Did you just say "man"? That is offensive, dear reader.Well, according to the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), the UK's national governing body for "a broad range of sailing and boating activities."The RYA believes the term is just not broad enough — or "inclusive" enough, claiming the term should be "person in water."Despite the fact it's been in use ever since man — and women — first travelled over water..As CBN reports, the association also declared other words to be a bit too narrow in scope — "sportsmanship" should be replaced with "sporting behaviour", "Seamanship", "Chairman", and "Mother duties" are also big no-nos. RYA was founded in 1875, and it seems to be completely banning the terms sea-mented in its history due to "some language in sailing and boating environments might not value or represent people who identify as female or prefer gender neutral terms," it states in its fresh off the boat guide. "For a long time, some terminology focused on the male perspective of being involved in sailing and boating."As the representation of people identifying as female or non-binary has increased within our sport and recreation, it’s important that the language that we use honours and values them too," RYA stated.."This is at odds with the common sense of most seafarers over time, and many old sorts would be turning in their graves if they saw such balderdash.," Sir John Haynes, chairman of the Common Sense group of Conservative MPs.RYA also advises people to "steer clear from using terms such as ‘Christian name’ as this is not representative of all religions and beliefs."
