Tuesday, May 17, 2022

words

apparently I started the following post on october 27, 2019 and just never got back to it. I guess I didn't have a good way to wrap it up, so i never finished it. I still don't, really. but imma post it anyway since, well, why not.


many no longer casually toss around the words "gay" and "retarded" as general insults.

i was listening to the radio about awhile ago and they had listeners call in to say "I'm so lame because I..." after a few callers, someone called to comment that they shouldn't use the word "lame" anymore because it could be construed as insulting people with physical disabilities. i mean, i guess. tho i wonder how many people know what lame means in that context. but okay, today's definition of lame doesn't have much to do with the original meaning. it does, but I can see how that would be used as a slight to someone with a disability.

in the same week, I heard a short segment on NPR where the reporter talked about the growing movement in avoiding the word "crazy." I wonder if I agree with this one tho. I do not use that word to describe people with mental illness. I use it to describe frantic situations or people who are illogical sure, I could say "he's illogical!" or "today was super busy!" but I don't know, for some reason I don't think that's quite the same thing?

personally, i don't think it's such a big deal to learn more diverse and more precise vocabulary. especially if my word choice offends people.

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