The list, perhaps predictably, starts with the ‘A’ words. “Accessible”. “Advocate”. “At risk”.

Moving through the alphabet, we have “barrier”, “climate crisis”, “disability”, “equality”, and on it goes, before reaching that pesky, oh-so-offensive word – “women”. (“Rubber bullets” don’t get a mention.)

If you’re struggling to decipher the link between these terms, spare a thought for government workers in Donald Trump’s America, who have been encouraged to limit or avoid their use of hundreds of words as part of his war on “woke”, according to multiple media reports.

US government workers have been encouraged to limit their use of hundreds of words as part of Trump’s war on “woke”. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The New York Times first published a list of dozens of words in March, based on a review of government documents. The article said these documents had ordered some words be removed from websites and school curriculums, and that “the presence of some terms was used to automatically flag for review some grant proposals and contracts that could conflict with Mr Trump’s executive orders.”

Since then, PEN America, a free expression non-profit group, has continued to add terms identified by other media, and their list now stretches to more than 350 words.

If you’ve been paying attention to Mr Trump’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion, you may not be surprised to see words like “Black” and “transgender” on the list. Others, like “clean water”, are just bewildering.

But for anyone tempted to........

© The Sydney Morning Herald