[Dion]

Originally Posted by annasuave

Uh-oh. Does this mean I'm not allowed to use my engine ######er brakes going down big hills any more?

The message in the ad bugs me. Words have power, yes. But only because of the meaning we ascribe to them. A rose by any other name and all that.

Personally, I find the term "special" when used to describe a person of different abilities, states, or degree of conformity to generally accepted norms offensive.

So oddly enough, I find the term "Special" more offensive than "######ed" in this regard. Just goes to show ya - different strokes for different folks.

We're all special. We need adverbs to describe ourselves so that we're able to say what makes us special, unique, or otherwise "not like everyone else". In other words, different.

So I'm fat, you're black, he's a Jew, she's gay, and Billy's ######ed. Can't we all just get along?

We can get along by respecting a groups request to not use a certain word.