Late comedian George Carlin was famous for his routine about the seven dirty words that weren't allowed on TV or radio.

VANOC has a list of more than three dozen terms that are off-limits for those wanting to volunteer at the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

The official My Games Training manual includes a list of forbidden terms such as cripple, spastic, lunatic, crazy, nuts, retarded, idiot and mongoloid.

Acceptable terms include "person with ..." a disability, mobility impairment or mental illness" and "person who is ..." deaf, blind, hard-of-hearing or visually impaired.

"Words we use sometimes paint a picture of people with disabilities as victims or sufferers.

"Most are not; they live with their disability, rather than being defined by it," said the section obtained by 24 hours.

"People with disabilities are people first, treat them no differently than any other customer."

The no-no list also includes the popular 1990s politically correct terms "physically challenged" and "differently-abled."

Even the seemingly innocuous word "patient" is banned in favour of "person with a disability, client or consumer of medical services."

Bob Mackin reports for 24 hours.