I believe that political correctness can be a form of linguistic fascism, and it sends shivers down the spine of my generation who went to war against fascism.

In this remark, P. D. James frames “political correctness” not merely as etiquette but as a coercive pressure on language—something she likens to “linguistic fascism.” The comparison draws its force from her generation’s lived memory of World War II: for those who fought fascism, any system that polices permissible speech can feel like a troubling echo of authoritarian control. The quote expresses anxiety that moral or political conformity, when enforced through language norms, can chill open debate and individual expression. It also signals a generational perspective: what younger speakers may experience as sensitivity or inclusion, older witnesses of totalitarianism may interpret as an ominous narrowing of thought.