An example of what. You said you believe that people are making up being offended. I just asked how you validate that this is true and not just you being wrong and out of touch.
Like did you work any groups of people who are neurodivergent or developmentally delayed or their families to ask what they thought? Like we had two examples of people with direct contacts who found the word offensive when used around them and one who didn’t. So how do you validate the made up offence.
Idk. I still don't think I get how to address your question? Your statement? Did I workshop this with some people with mental disabilities? No, I did not do that. I won't do that. Believe it or not, I don't actually workshop much of what I say. I mean, I'm sure there are loads of people who would love to donate their time to me so I can run my material by them, but it's just hard to get our schedules to sync up.
I get where you guys are coming from. Is it a nice word? No. Is it meant as an insult when I use it? Yes. Sadly, that's the nature of insults. If you're fat, will I call you fat? No, unless you're aggressively sitting on me and I can't get up due to your weight and then I'll say, 'get your fat ass off me' and I'll mean it.
If I'm in an argument with you will I call you the r-word? Very unlikely unless you are aggressively defending Nazi ideology and spreading hatred and lies about an entire race of people in which case then, yes, I will step in and say your ideas are ######ed in an effort to cast them in the least favourable light from a perspective judging solely on the level of intelligence it would have taken to come up with such ridiculousness.
If you guys rather reach for the thesaurus in that situation, then go for it. Please don't use the words idiot, dumb, moron, imbecile, etc as they have the same basic etymology, though.
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Seems kinda obvious that using that word as a weapon against anyone, special or otherwise, is wrong.
On the other hand, there aren’t many phrases that’ll cause someone who’s in the wrong to take a hard look at their behaviour like “are you ####ing (fill in the blank)?”
For example:
“We’re gonna drive 5,000km across country in vehicles that get 8 mpg that we already can’t afford to keep fuelled to blockade the Ambassador Bridge with bouncy castles and our own wives and children until the democratically elected head of the government steps down!”
Maybe coulda done with a few more folks asking the question.
Because alternative curses are fun and cute, but that’s just it. They’re dismissable.
You can’t yadda yadda an R-cusation like that. Especially knowing that it’s one of the few words most people universally agree you can’t (or at least shouldn’t) use.
But no river is so long as to not contain a bend.
This was a very subtly wise post. Thanks for sharing.
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Idk. I still don't think I get how to address your question? Your statement? Did I workshop this with some people with mental disabilities? No, I did not do that. I won't do that. Believe it or not, I don't actually workshop much of what I say. I mean, I'm sure there are loads of people who would love to donate their time to me so I can run my material by them, but it's just hard to get our schedules to sync up.
I get where you guys are coming from. Is it a nice word? No. Is it meant as an insult when I use it? Yes. Sadly, that's the nature of insults. If you're fat, will I call you fat? No, unless you're aggressively sitting on me and I can't get up due to your weight and then I'll say, 'get your fat ass off me' and I'll mean it.
If I'm in an argument with you will I call you the r-word? Very unlikely unless you are aggressively defending Nazi ideology and spreading hatred and lies about an entire race of people in which case then, yes, I will step in and say your ideas are ######ed in an effort to cast them in the least favourable light from a perspective judging solely on the level of intelligence it would have taken to come up with such ridiculousness.
If you guys rather reach for the thesaurus in that situation, then go for it. Please don't use the words idiot, dumb, moron, imbecile, etc as they have the same basic etymology, though.
So here’s the problem. You still actively think about the r-word being associated with the developmentally delayed or neurodivergent that you think that these people are too impaired to have reasonable ideas. That’s pretty insulting to those people and shows you think of them as less than.
It’s the same as using you throw like a girl to insult athletic ability or something you think is not cool as Gay. When you use associate a group of people you want to insult with another random group of people you are insulting the random group of people.
As for Dumb Idiot etc I would argue that people no longer associate those words as psychological diagnosis due to the time that has passed but if when you use the term dumb you associate with the condition as it used to be diagnosed then your are in the same place as I think you are with the R-word.
So I think you get your word back in 10 or 20 years unless of course you keep trying to bring it back early before it loses its links to its diagnostic meaning.
I think if you want to want it to be used less, like capitalism baby, come up with a better one to take its place. That’s what I’ve done.
So for the R word here’s what I’ve come up with:
- Fuh k tard - Servicible, I think it reduced the rword numbers for a few years but it is derivative and we all know it.
- Mongo - short and sweet, but probably worse plus way more people will not know what mongo means so it loses lethality.
We worked out calling someone a mong, short for mongoloid was out of order around age 13 back in the 70's, along with flid, and that was in a school where my nickname was Y*d, not exactly politically correct but we wouldnt go there
When my wife and I moved to Sydney we were friends with a couple that ended up being the only witnesses to our wedding. The woman had a brother that was in a wheelchair who she was incredibly protective of. For example we went to a pub that said they were wheelchair friendly but had a big step between the entrance and toilets. She assertively complained to the manager calling it unacceptable and demanding an apology.
Her biggest battle was against the R world. To say she hated it would be an understatement and it was likely her life's goal to eliminate it from the vernacular. She's the person on facebook ranting at people for using it in comments. I was lucky enough to never say it in front of her but when someone did she would stop them right away for a very serious discussion on the history of the word and why it was hurtful to her brother and herself. After hearing the personal story about the impact of the R word I decided to stop using it and find other ways to express something or someone being really stupid.
Then she ghosted us and hurt my wife so now I use the R word occasionally at home just to spite her.
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I fail to understand what ****** can achieve that you can't manage with w***stain or s***gibbon, f***muppet or just a simple c***ing moron? I mean don't these fine examples of the English language work anymore?
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I feel like I am on good authority to comment on this as I have an awesome 4-year old daughter who has Down Syndrome.
I'm definitely more aware of the use of the word now, than before.
- Did I used to say the word? Yes
- Do I use the word now? No
- Do I look down on people who say the word? Not really but it does perk up my ears and make me cringe a bit. I'd say most people are not using the word as a way to explicitly put down people with disabilities but use it as an alternative to the word "dumb", or "stupid"... which are also not kind words.
Much to my surprise, Ive called people out on it on 2 different occasions. Both instances were in semi-professional settings where I knew the offender and was comfortable bringing it up.
In both cases I was like "Hey man, you probably dont know this, but I have a daughter with special needs and that word is kind of offensive to me. Can we maybe choose a different word next time?"
Both people felt extremely bad and apologized. I'd even go as far to say that they did not even realize the impact the word could have on others and would think twice about using it in the future.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't totally trigger our family and I'm not going to be a Karen and start a fight about it, but we try to educate people to hopefully change their behaviors when we get the opportunity.
Yes, that includes random people on hockey message boards!
Last edited by dubc80; 06-28-2023 at 10:00 AM.
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If it is going to potentially make people feel bad - I will try not to use a word. Its a word - I will survive not using it. It may slip out if its a word I used a lot - like this 'r' word - it slipped out when it first became an issue but being an intelligent being I've adapted and now I don't use it.
Now if someone said walking on two feet was offensive to amputees and we should all hop around on one foot - I would protest and complain. But I'm willing to do the bare minimum (i.e. not have my dog pee on the lawn of the weird lawn guys) to make others lives a little better.
In conclusion - I'm a great guy and you should all look up to me.
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I think the world has started to soften a bit on c---, white women have slowly accepted that they are, in fact, and incredibly privileged group of people and they don't get their own "no-no" word. You can't get away with directing it at a woman, but a man can refer to himself or another man as a c--- and it seems to go over just fine.
I think the world has started to soften a bit on c---, white women have slowly accepted that they are, in fact, and incredibly privileged group of people and they don't get their own "no-no" word. You can't get away with directing it at a woman, but a man can refer to himself or another man as a c--- and it seems to go over just fine.
The world?
The hang-up over the word "c---" is a distinctly North American one. The UK, Australia, and New Zealand handle it just fine.
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GO FLAMES GO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
Typical dumb take.
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