Politically Correst

 My question is what precisely does it mean to be "politically correct?" From my observation it seems to indicate the importance of saying things so as to avoid offending someone or a particular group. Indeed, it has become difficult to simply speak from one's heart, instead we have to consider the use of certain words or phrases for fear of stepping on someone's toes.  I can remember using words to describe how I felt such as "I had a gay time," "that was a queer thing to do," "I felt retarded when trying to use my new computer." 
  There was a time when gay, queer, retarded merely meant one was happy/light hearted, strange/odd, or simply felt ill equipped or unable to figure something out. It certainly was not said to reference a particular type of person or group.  It is little wonder communicating with someone has become so difficult; we have become cautious of every word we say in order to not be misunderstand or step on someone's toes. 
  So now we must censor every word and to do that we need to move into our heads to evaluate our words before saying them. It certainly is most important to think before we speak in order to be clear at what we really want to say to someone and to be certain we relay our message in a clear and concise manner. All too often we just open up our mouths and start an endless flow of words with no real sense of what we are attempting to communicate. However, to then have to sort through every single words means we have to filter things through the list of current "politically correct" lingo that might be construed as offensive. It's all pretty confusing not to mention time consuming which thusly can make for opting to say nothing at all. 
  It is my understanding to have good communications with someone we seek to share our thoughts, observations, ideas, and dreams, requires we simply show up and share what is unfolding in our heart. My experience is that in the unfolding of the conversation we find clarity and support for whatever resides in our heart. More times than not the person we are speaking with will prompt us to hone down our seeming rantings by asking us questions, or reflecting back what they are hearing us say so they can be clear they are hearing what we mean, which in turn helps us get more clear. There is nothing more warming to the heart than to have someone you can just be yourself with and speak from a place of comfort knowing that whatever you say will be understood. For in the dialoguing both parties gain a deeper understanding of the topic and each other. 
  I don't know, this "politically correct" notion just seems like a lot of rhetoric for keeping us on the surface rather then genuinely speaking from our heart center. What do I know though? I'm just a simple person who prefers letting my heart play with someone else's heart and learn a thing or two about each other while we laugh about the silliness of it all. But then, I also prefer to hear someone's voice over texting so I can accurately hear the tone for which they speak and look in their face for their expressions to make certain I understand the feelings behind the words. To me, that can only happen when people talk to each other from their hearts.  And, your thoughts on the topic are . . . ​