Staff at the University of Surrey are told not to say 'Indian summer' or 'black sheep'

Staff at a leading English university have been encouraged to ditch the phrases 'black sheep', 'blackball' or 'Indian summer'.

Academics at the University of Surrey have been handed examples of 'non-inclusive words and phrases to be aware of'.

These include swapping the phrase 'black sheep' for 'renegade', and to use 'ostracise' instead of 'blackball', to avoid causing offence.

The guidance, created by Mental Health First Aid England, reads: 'This guide aims to empower you to have supportive, inclusive conversations about race.

'Consider the origins and implications of the words you choose. Do they reinforce bias, or challenge it?

'One way to help eliminate bias is to change our language to no longer use 'black' and 'dark' to mean 'bad'.'

Other phrases include swapping 'black and blue' for 'bruised'.

While academics should use 'warm autumn' or 'late summer; instead of 'Indian summer'.

The institution said the guidance is not university policy – but that the inclusive language document was published by an individual as 'good practice'.

It comes amid a rise of 'campus wokery' that has seen academics encouraged to 'decolonise' degree courses.

Teaching staff at Durham have access to a 'woke toolkit' aimed at ridding lessons of any content deemed to be insufficiently inclusive.

And at Kings College London, employees are told there is a difference between being 'not racist' and 'anti-racist'.

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