A post about offensive language, bitches. [Scanned]
There's an
interesting post (and resulting discussion) over at theferrett's journal about the use of language, and whether use
of a word discriminates against particular groups. It's particularly
interesting because it covers a number of different topics that I'm
interested in: racism, homophobia, language, slang, prescriptivism vs
descriptivism (and how language evolves) and intent vs result.



Essentially, the post is about use of the word "gay" to mean "bad".
"That movie was totally gay," "your mum's cooking is gay", "having sex
with people of the same gender as yourself is literally gay"...



Personally, and let's get this out of the way, I don't use the word gay
to mean "bad". I actually don't even use it much to mean "homosexual",
ever since I learned that they're two different words with quite
significantly different meanings within the gay community.



He links to a
post by tithenai, in which the point is made that
whenever you say "Philistine", you're implying that Palestinians are
stupid, uncultured, idiotic etc etc.



There's a paragraph that Ferrett quoted, and I'll quote it as well:



What I am saying, when I say this bothers me, is that I am hearing
you equate Palestinians with negative things. If this was not your
intention, please consider that it's still what any Arabic speaker will
hear when you say it, because that word is in use in Arabic, and
whatever its true etymology, whoever the Philistines were, whether or
not they are ancestrally linked to the people occupying Canaan-that-was,
it means Palestinian today. Would you use the words 'to Jew
someone down' as synonymous with arguing over a price? Or the words 'to
gyp someone' as synonymous with cheating? Or the words 'to Welsh on a
deal' as synonymous with going back on your word? If so -- awesome. My
respect for you is lessened.



Now, this is where it gets interesting. Again, to get it out of the way
- I've never used (or, honestly, even heard) the phrase "to Jew
someone down", and I never will. I knew "to welch on a deal", but never
connected it with the Welsh. And even though it's obvious in retrospect,
I've been using "gypped" all my life, and never associated it with
gypsies. What's more, I am going to continue to use "gypped" and
"Welsh".



And, unless someone specifically objects to me, I'm going to keep using
the term "Philistine". (if someone objects, I'll stop using it around
them, that's common courtesy, but I'm not going to cut it out of my
vocabulary entirely.)



I obviously have a line. I haven't particularly defined it (and that's
not what this post is about) but I've drawn it. "Jew someone down" is
offensive, "gypped" isn't. "Gay" is not an appropriate synonym for
"bad", but "lame" is okay.



I bring up lame because it's an argument I've seen a few times before. I
know people who agreed that "gay" as a synonym for "bad" was offensive,
and so replaced it with "lame". Other people have then stood up, and
said "Hang on, why is that less offensive? Instead of saying homosexual
people suck, you're now just saying that disabled people suck."



That's an interesting point, but...is that really what lame means these
days? Except for in the phrase "lame duck", I've never heard anyone
disabled referred to as "lame". Lame, to my generation, simply means
"bad". The old definition has been lost.



"Ah," people have rebutted, "but it originally meant disabled
people."



And that's the point of my post. If you saw my poll earlier, you'll
notice I made a list of words: gay, lame, Philistine, idiot, moron,
retarded, Indian giver.



The fact is, while some are more obvious than others, all of
these have offensive origins. "Idiot" was a medical term for a while*,
it meant someone who (due to mental retardation) had an intellectual age
between 3-7. Similarly, moron meant someone with a mental age between 7
and 10.



So as well as gay, lame and retarded, should we cut out "idiot" and
"moron" from our day-to-day vocabulary? Someone from the early 1900s
might be offended! My parents are both psychiatric nurses, and every 10
years or so, the terms for mental disability are changed, because the
old meanings have become common insults. It happens every 10 years. It's
not going to stop.



Again, everyone draws their own line, but I think that there's a point
where a word outgrows its original meaning.



"Lame" has reached the point where people offended by it are being
unreasonable. I think that "gyp" used in a phrase is completely
different to calling someone a "gyp". I was aware of the term "Indian
giver" before I knew anything about native Americans, but the link there
is strong and obvious, so I no longer use the term.



One more thing about this argument that I find particularly interesting
is that I've never seen anyone bring up sexism in the same breath
(/post). "You x like a girl", "don't be so girly" etc etc. They're just
as common (let's be honest, they're probably much more common than every
other phrase except "that's gay") but no one ever comments on it.



*no, that's not where it originally originated, but let's be fair, "gay"
didn't originally mean homosexual.



So my question to you: Where do you draw your line, and why? What's your
personal pet peeve when it comes to offensive phrases? Here's a list:
which ones do you use, which ones do you avoid?



Philistine, gay, lame, Indian giver, gypped, like a girl, welsh(/welch)
on a deal, hooligan, idiot, retard, moron, special, disabled, hip hip
hooray, vandal, cannibal, bugger...(if you've got any others, comment,
I'll add them to the list)



My answers (as well as an anecdote that I couldn't fit in the post
anywhere) in the comments!