“Though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back… she would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.” - Aslan, C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Standards (noun, performative plural)

Standards (noun, performative plural)

Pronunciation: /ˈstæn.dədz/

1. In institutional usage:

Official guidelines, codes of conduct, or best practices. Often cited with solemn authority, rarely followed with equal conviction. Used as rhetorical shields to justify overreach, inaction, or punishment.

2. In SWANKian usage:

Performative doctrines weaponised to control the behaviour of the marginalised while exempting the powerful. Aesthetic posturing masquerading as ethics. Sometimes decorative. Often absurd.

Function:

To be selectively enforced, misquoted in meetings, or invoked when actual accountability might be inconvenient.

Etymology:

Derived from the desire to appear moral without doing the work. Frequently paired with disciplinary procedures, mission statements, and PowerPoint presentations.

See also:

Professional Pretence, Double Standards, Negligent Kingdoms, Whinging (reclaimed)


No comments:

Post a Comment

This archive is a witness table, not a control panel.

We do not moderate comments. We do, however, read them, remember them, and occasionally reframe them for satirical or educational purposes.

If you post here, you’re part of the record.

Civility is appreciated. Candour is immortal.

Documented Obsessions