Is there a technical difference between "make love" and "f***"? And yet, one is much less offensive than another. Different words for the same things carry different emotional freight, this is not any kind of revelation for anyone other than the literal-minded.
No, but if everyone stops using ###### and replaces it with idiot I fail to see how idiot doesn't become more offensive now.
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I'll keep using it to describe people and situations that are dumb. Sometimes I use it to describe stuff that is good too (e.g. that sandwich was ######ed!). People get offended about everything these days.
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Originally Posted by kunkstyle
No, but if everyone stops using ###### and replaces it with idiot I fail to see how idiot doesn't become more offensive now.
Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Then we'll move on to another word, or set of words. That doesn't invalidate the observation that making an argument that technically "idiot" and "######" are very similar has nothing to do with which one is more offensive to use in a specific place at a specific time.
That being said, I believe this is more about separating off people who are legitimately slow of thought due to their genetics, which is not their fault, and people who are intellectually challenged due to defects in their personality, worldview, or lazy character, which (theoretically, if you believe in some form of free will) is at least partly their own fault. If "######ed" is a purely descriptive term we agree to use to apply to the former, than using it as an insult to describe the latter indirectly demeans those who deserve sympathy and not ridicule.
When you get down to it, all insults demean someone, otherwise there would be no point to them. Discussing which ones we should and shouldn't use is something that will always change over time as a society's core values change, depending on what qualities are perceived as positive, negative, and unmentionably rude to discuss.
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Why'd they have to pick the best one? Aren't dumb, idiot, and moron also in the category? What about stupid?
Now, I have found 'struggler' to be a very useful word, but I can't use it to describe a situation. Especially now that we can't call the situation gay. lol
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Since the term mental ######ation is no longer a term that describes anything, one should be able to in the right context use the word ###### without meaning it to be someone with an actual intellectual disability.
Um, the term mental ######ation absolutely describes...mental ######ation. Just because the community would rather society use the term intellectually disabled, that doesn't mean the words have lost their meaning. In fact, if the words had lost their meaning, people wouldn't be upset about them being used to describe when someone has said or done something unbelievably stupid.
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If edmonton wins the cup in the next decade I will buy everyone on CP a bottle of vodka.
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Unfortunately we will eventually start saying people are Special Needs or Developmentally Challenged, when they do something stupid. Then the PC people will want us to stop using those words and it will be something new.
Words only mean what they mean, there is no such thing as a bad word, just a bad intention. Some people purposely misinterpret peoples intentions to make that person feel bad about themselves, so that they can feel better about themselves. And that's the definition of bullying.
If it's going to hurt someones feelings if I call them a ###### I probably wont say it to them or around them. But I'm not going to bash people for fairly innocent intentions.
Um, the term mental ######ation absolutely describes...mental ######ation. Just because the community would rather society use the term intellectually disabled, that doesn't mean the words have lost their meaning. In fact, if the words had lost their meaning, people wouldn't be upset about them being used to describe when someone has said or done something unbelievably stupid.
Mental ######ation is no longer a diagnosis. You cannot have mental ######ation. The condition a person can be diagnosed with is intellectual disability.
Good example is lunatic. It used to describe someone who was diagnosed with lunacy, until the term lunacy no longer was a medical diagnosis as knowledge of mental illness grew. Now, instead of it meaning you are being influenced by patterns of the moon it just means you're being foolish. I don't know of people using lunatic in this day and age as a term to bully people with mental disorders, but even if they do, it is no longer as harsh a term to people with mental disorders as say calling someone doing something out of the ordinary as a Schizo, or Bipolar, as those are saying it's an insult to have that disorder.
Mental ######ation is no longer a diagnosis. You cannot have mental ######ation. The condition a person can be diagnosed with is intellectual disability.
Good example is lunatic. It used to describe someone who was diagnosed with lunacy, until the term lunacy no longer was a medical diagnosis as knowledge of mental illness grew. Now, instead of it meaning you are being influenced by patterns of the moon it just means you're being foolish. I don't know of people using lunatic in this day and age as a term to bully people with mental disorders, but even if they do, it is no longer as harsh a term to people with mental disorders as say calling someone doing something out of the ordinary as a Schizo, or Bipolar, as those are saying it's an insult to have that disorder.
Perhaps, but you said it doesn't describe anything. The words individually still have definitions so it does describe something. Just because a person cannot have mental ######ation as a medical diagnosis, doesn't mean that mental ######ation no longer describes something. However, you are actually incorrect in that assumption.
Lunacy to describe mental illness is actually quite different from mental ######ation to describe intellectual disability. Lunacy was an umbrella term to cover what are now known as many different forms of mental illness. Mental ######ation and intellectual disability mean the exact same thing.
Stupid is a better umbrella term. Stupid would describe those with an intellectual disability as well as those with an IQ higher than 70 but still lower than 100.
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I think we could do a word for every letter that we aren't allowed to say, but everyone knows.
The A hole Word
The B Word
The C Word
The D-bag Word
?
The Firetruck Word
?
H. E. Double Hockey Stick
Idiot
Jack A word
The L Word
Mother F Word, I think the word Mankind is also becoming a dirty word
The N Word
?
Penis?
Queer
The R-tard Word
The S Word
Tits?
?
Regina
?
?
?
?
I made the mistake of engaging CP's Most Obstinate Poster (TM) and distracting from the op, which was really cool. Thanks for the info Titan.
This to me is a very simple issue and I'll never understand why anyone would refuse to stop using the word. And yes, I've read the fallacious floodgate arguments, bizarre logic that 'the next word' will be deemed offensive, or thinly veiled insults attempting humour. They all pretty much amount to "I'm not affected by the word, so why should I change my behaviour just because you want me to?".
There's a small group of people who were identified by a particular word. The word itself, for whatever reason, has taken on a pejorative meaning in general parlance. That word is no longer used by those in the relevant professional fields to define those people. Those people who were defined by that word in the past, their families, and their representative groups, now say "hey, maybe everyone could stop using that word because it fundamentally applies or identifies us, and it is hurtful and we don't like it".
Shouldn't that be the end of it? It takes almost no effort to stop using it, has zero impact on your life, and doesn't in any way hinder your ability to communicate. (If it in any way inconveniences or impacts you, I'd say you've got bigger problems than being unable to use this one word).
I just don't get why this is even an issue. If people in our society are hurt by something and we can remedy it without doing anything, why wouldn't we?
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I made the mistake of engaging CP's Most Obstinate Poster (TM) and distracting from the op, which was really cool. Thanks for the info Titan.
This to me is a very simple issue and I'll never understand why anyone would refuse to stop using the word. And yes, I've read the fallacious floodgate arguments, bizarre logic that 'the next word' will be deemed offensive, or thinly veiled insults attempting humour. They all pretty much amount to "I'm not affected by the word, so why should I change my behaviour just because you want me to?".
There's a small group of people who were identified by a particular word. The word itself, for whatever reason, has taken on a pejorative meaning in general parlance. That word is no longer used by those in the relevant professional fields to define those people. Those people who were defined by that word in the past, their families, and their representative groups, now say "hey, maybe everyone could stop using that word because it fundamentally applies or identifies us, and it is hurtful and we don't like it".
Shouldn't that be the end of it? It takes almost no effort to stop using it, has zero impact on your life, and doesn't in any way hinder your ability to communicate. (If it in any way inconveniences or impacts you, I'd say you've got bigger problems than being unable to use this one word).
I just don't get why this is even an issue. If people in our society are hurt by something and we can remedy it without doing anything, why wouldn't we?
There are small groups of people who can claim many words are offensive. In this case the temrs "mongloid and tard" have been deemed offensive in the past and ###### was acceptable. Now that that term has become the norm, it is now offensive. The replacement term will be deemed offensive one day to.
Just like the M word. We use to call them Oompa Loompas, Dwarfs, and what have you. Midget became an acceptable term to call the little fellas. Well now midget is offensive, as is the term little person. They prefer the term "A person of short stature". Well who really cares what those little m words want, they will always be kickables to me.
Furthermore, I'm offended by the word fat, which is rarely used in society, however replacement words such as obese and heavy are equally offensive yet are used as masking words for rotund guys like me. As a male aged 18-35 I demand an end to the use of the following.
-the other F word
-O word
-H word
-T(ubby) word
-P(ortly) word
And as a kid who grew up ordering others around, taking lunch money and belittleing kids, I find the term Bully to be offensive. An end to bullying should actually be a movement to end the use of the word Bully, the third B word.
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Last edited by Derek Sutton; 10-04-2014 at 10:41 AM.
At university there was an article in the student newspaper that really made me examine my attitudes on these things. It was talking about the people in your life that are gay but you don't know it yet. Brother, sister, cousin, best friend, guy on the hockey team, person in class, etc., etc., etc..
It could be anyone.
Every time you say something is gay or call someone a Fag or ######, you could be causing very real pain to someone you care very much about. What if your brother was gay but had not come out. Every time you use one of these words to discuss something that you deem to be horrible, you equate your brother with those things. You don't know the pain you are causing, but that person does and it hurts them, a lot.
I think it is the same thing with ######. If someone you know has a person in their life that they love a lot that can be accurately described by the actual meaning of the word and you are using it to equate them to something like an Oiler or Canuck fan, that would be extremely hurtful to that person. In all likelihood they will look at you differently.
A good example is Darryl Sutter. Would any of you use that word around him knowing he has a son with Down Syndrome? I would hope not and it may not go well for you if you did.
I don't think most of us mean to use the words in a hateful and pain inducing way. If that is true, just stop using it. Someone around you, who you may or may not realize, might find it very offensive.
Yes there are a list of "letter" words that have been associated with being very offensive to some people. There are also almost 1 million words in the english language. Pick another one or acknowledge that you just don't care if you hurt people around you.