Those using offensive words against national minorities in public might soon have their tongues tied with fines as large as $2,000.

City Hall is looking at a law to punish the use of the rich but untranslatable vocabulary used to refer to people from the Caucasus or northern Russia.

It is expected that individuals will pay for nationalist swearing from $20 to $100, politicians from $200 to $300, and mass media from $300 to $2,000.

Supporters of the new legislation say the recent racial clashes in the center of Moscow showed the level of political and linguistic correctness should be increased.

“If some society is used to scolding people of minor nationalities, then this society is sick,” Akhmed Azimov, head of the Russian Congress for Peoples of the Caucasus, was quoted as saying by the Novye Izvestia newspaper. “When words don’t work, the authorities should switch to adopting new regulations.”

Linguists, however, say it will be extremely difficult to set the criteria for offensive words.

“It is impossible to list all the offensive words against every nationality in Russia,” Mikhail Gorbanevsky, head of the Linguists’ Guild, was quoted as saying by the Novy Region news agency. “In addition, many words have different meanings in different contexts. We might end up issuing fines for anecdotes, as it was in the Soviet Union.”