What do these words have in common:
Fetus, transgender, diversity

According to The Washington Post, they are on a list of forbidden words that the CDC is prohibited from using in any documents in connection with next year’s budget. According to the Post,

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of “science-based” or ­“evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered.

“CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” huh? That phrase certainly gives wordiness a bad name. It also suggests that science may be twisted if it does not conform to “community standards and wishes.” Or is that the point?

CDC staff, upon hearing of the ban, were reportedly “incredulous.” My inner, catty self wonders whether I need to define incredulous for Trump administration staffers.

As I write, there are over 4000 comments on this article. I read only a relative few, none were supportive, and some were, well, incredulous.