Why don’t we get rid of the word ‘war’ while we’re at it. It’s got this awful connotation, so let’s start calling it, ‘fluffy bunnies.’

“The fluffy bunnies in Afghanistan took a turn for the worse today as naughty boomers [formerly 'suicide bombers'] killed dozens in several cities.”

Now doesn’t that make you feel better?

If you’re like most people, you talk about the abortion debate using a couple of simple, concise terms whose meaning we can all pretty much agree on (no matter how bitterly we disagree about the underlying politics): pro-choice versus pro-life.

At NPR, however, that doesn’t fly anymore. As of this week, journalists at the radio network are under orders to refrain from using those two phrases. Instead, they’ve been instructed to say “in favor of abortion rights” and “opposed to abortion rights.” “This updated policy is aimed at ensuring the words we speak and write are as clear, consistent and neutral as possible,” explained managing editor David Sweeney in a memo alerting staffers to the change. While the two verboten terms can still make it into copy if they’re part of an organization’s name or a direct quote, the preferred locutions are to be used in all other instances.

The motive behind this move is solid enough. “Pro-choice” and “pro-life” both began, essentially, as propaganda — expressions conceived to curry maximum sympathy for the positions they represent. How can anyone be against choice? Or against life? Why, you’d have to be downright evil!

But, over time, through sheer repetition, both phrases have lost their connotative crackle. When I call someone pro-choice, I’m not praising his dedication to the exercise of free will any more than I’m describing someone as generous and open-minded when I call him a liberal. They’re words. They mean what they mean because we all agree that’s what they mean.