Adults did not sound like this in the 1980s. Almost no one said “I feel that taxes are too high.” They said, “Taxes are too high.” Notice that they didn’t even qualify it with the slightly more assertive “I think.” Why? Because we all already know that, because you are making this statement, this statement is “what you think.”Flaccid speech betrays a flaccid mind, indeed. But so it goes in the world of Inclusive Euphemism. Now, apparently, the Royal Yachting Association has pronounced anathema on "Man Overboard."
“I think” became “I feel,” and both became necessary to buffer simple, direct statements. Or, seen another way, typically masculine statements.
It’s a socially required ritual apology. You may not ever have though about it directly the way I’m putting it out there under the microscope here, but you know it’s true. Somewhere inside, you “feel” that you “have to” pre-apologize for making a direct or declarative statement.
Readers, friends, countrymen—this is fucking nuts. It’s a lunatic feminine overreach and I’m well tired of it.
Every day online, and now in the real world, I feel the pressure to pre-apologize. To qualify. I’ve internalized the idea (and you have, too) that making declarative statements is a per se act of aggression. That it’s normal for others to react to declarative, unbuffered statements as the speaker “judging” them.
This is not normal. It’s bullshit. It’s kindergarten-teacher bullshit.
I resent it, which is why I’m writing this. Secondarily, I hope this gooses the “I feel like” out of some of you, maybe for the first time.
While it started with women in the simpering professions, it has metastasized to all professions and industries. Men are doing it as much as women. And also? Women didn’t speak this way when I was a kid. They were actual grown-ups just like men.
Years ago when I first slipped into this habit of “I feel,” or “In my view only, not saying it’s true for you,” I resented it but I didn’t know why. I knew something about it was smarmy and dishonest, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Now I know what it is. It’s feminine longhouse control. The unspoken demand to pre-apologize and pre-soften any statements is a filtering mechanism. It shows others who is pliant and plastic, who will mouth the right phrases, who will perform the required self-abnegation ritual, and who will not.
The national governing body for sailing, which was founded in 1875, urges members to use language which "honours and values" women and non-binary people within the sport and recreational activity and avoid the terms that "might not be comfortable for a person who recognises themselves to be a woman or non-binary".Some people are crusin' for a keel-haulin'. And founded in 1875. Youngsters in the scheme of Wisconsin yacht racing. Ahoy, non-binary swabs!
The guide suggests that the phrases can still be used to "raise the alarm where a person has fallen overboard to initiate the emergency procedures", but outside of these situations "person in water" is advised.
Critics said the new language guidance would have past sailors from previous eras "turning in their graves".
The Royal Yachting Association guide states: "Some language in sailing and boating environments might not value or represent people who identify as female or prefer gender neutral terms.
‘When you're reaching for a rubber ring, the first thing you think of isn't your language.’@CamillaTominey amusingly reacts to the Royal Yachting Association's new guidance on language, saying to stop using ‘man overboard’. pic.twitter.com/oEjzGjGoaK
— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 14, 2025
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