Offensive words...

[tizzo]

Originally Posted by Jerthunter
Basically, it was my opinion that offensive is dictated by the person being offended and the 'true meaning' or intent generally doesn't matter to the person who takes offense.
.

OK, I find that statement a little... rediculous. Are you saying that now I not only hafta watch what I say, but now it's my fault if someone "percieves" what I am saying wrong??
It's my fault that they took it wrong??
Oh boy if that's true, then I lost about a million arguments in the past, AND I guess I shoulda said I'm sorry.
But I won't. Not my problem. People wanna encorporate their own version into what you say and they jump to comclusions, I think any 2 people should be able to come to a mutual understanding without one or the other walking away offended.

 

[ruaround]

alright... now i am really offended that Tizzo has misspelled ridiculous twice!!!

ouch and deleted a post!!! so now its only once...

 

[reefkprz]

OK heres my 2 cents on it.
some people live to offend, they love getting someone else riled up, and when you or I get offended by them they win.
Some people toe a ridiculously straight line and try not offend anyone ever anywhere, for any reason, even their own beliefs.
some people live to be offended, they look for any excuse to act all righteous and call down some one who may or may not have intended any offense.
some people just try to be polite and not intentionally offend anyone and occasionally it happens despite their efforts to the contrary.
some people dont care, they believe or say what they believe or say, they may not do it to intentionally offend but if some one is offended they really dont care.
I dont really know what category I fall into as it is truly impossible to judge yourself without bias. I'm me, I'm not out to offend any one, I may get riled up occasionally, (or more) but I am not going to change who I am to make sure no one ever is offended by me, I would have to be every religion in the world even then some one would be offended by that, I would have to be every race in the world, and again some one would be offended by that, I would have to never speak my own opinion even when asked as my opinions are probably offensive to some one some where.
I guess what I am trying to say is (in a nutshell) I'm me like it or lump it, I'm not trying to tick you or anyone else off, if I do tick you off, depending on the reason I may or may not be sorry.
(and when I say "you" its a generic "you" not targeted at any one in particular)

 

[tizzo]

Originally Posted by ruaround
alright... now i am really offended that Tizzo has misspelled ridiculous twice!!!

ouch and deleted a post!!! so now its only once...
Glad you didn't "quote" the second post.
spell check...
HOLY CRAP, your right.
learn something new every day.
But since I didn't "mean" to offend you, does it count??

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by Tizzo
My son is "delayed", so when I compare him to the "normal" kids, his teachers get all bent outa shape. They are not "normal", they are "typically developing".

Bring a dictionary in with you and highlight the definition of the word normal
if its merriam websters see part 4 of the definition below then tell them you will call the other kids normal. even if it offends the teachers

Main Entry: 1nor·mal
Pronunciation: 'nor-m&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin normalis, from norma
1 : PERPENDICULAR; especially : perpendicular to a tangent at a point of tangency
2 a : according with, constituting, or not deviating from a norm, rule, or principle b : conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern
3 : occurring naturally <normal immunity>
4 a : of, relating to, or characterized by average intelligence or development b : free from mental disorder : SANE

 

[nietzsche]

my gf has a cousin who has autism, and her and her family get offended when people say, "durr, is he retarded?" like ? are you stupid?
for a familiy and disability class i had, we had to write our all papers and make sure it was "pc." you couldnt say, "handicap bus," etc. Instead, you had to say accessible bus, accessible doors, and so on. and yes, my professor would definitely get offended when people chose to use the wrong word
i agree with Jerthunter.
i think people need to just grow up. this whole "i don't care free spech," "i don't care i can do what i want" man ive seen a lot of this lately and its annoying.
the original thread did go way overboard, but i'm sure he just doesnt want people using the word. how offensive is it to say "hey, is your brother retarded?" when the kid has a mental dissability?

 

[veni vidi vici]

Simply put "You can please some of the people some of the time ,but you cant please all of the people all of the time." I refuse to tip toe around people afraid that i might offend them with my choice of words,but on the other hand i dont intentionaly go around looking to hurt peoples feelings either. This whole PC thing has gotten way out of hand IMO
Ill call the garbage man the Refuse Disposal Technician when hell freezes over

 

[nietzsche]

Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
Simply put "You can please some of the people some of the time ,but you cant please all of the people all of the time." I refuse to tip toe around people afraid that i might offend them with my choice of words,but on the other hand i dont intentionaly go around looking to hurt peoples feelings either. This whole PC thing has gotten way out of hand IMO
Ill call the garbage man the Refuse Disposal Technician when hell freezes over

cool, but i hope you know better than to say "HEY IS YOUR KID RETARDED?" if he/she has a mental disability, its not cool to say that at all

 

[jerthunter]

While I was out to dinner it looks like a lot of people commented and I fear this is heading in what I feel is the incorrect way so I will attempt to reel in the discussion to focus on, what is important (which of course is what I feel is important).
To anyone who says they are offended by my post, I assume it is done in an attempt to make a point but even if it isn't I make a choice to continue knowing that someone claims to find it offensive. I have no problem with people being rude, crude or just plain mean. I do not think rules should be made to keep people 'politically correct'. That discussion can be held elsewhere.
The focus of my point is this. We are the experts of our own minds. If that doesn't sound new I stole the idea from Decartes. If I am offended by something, I am offended. The arguement about whether I SHOULD be offended or not does not change my feelings. If I am offended by a word than I am offended by that word. Explaining why I shouldn't be offended or how I SHOULD feel doesn't change how I DO feel. You can say something offensive to me. I personally will generally let you know. What you do with that information is your own choice. You can choose to say 'I don't care.' or 'I meant for it to offend you' and I can deal with it as I choose. However, it doesn't seem to make any sense for someone to reply, 'You shouldn't be offended' because plain and simple I WAS offended. (I feel I should mention here that I have not yet been offended and I am merely giving an example.)
Politically correctness, free speech, etc. are not the topic here. All I am attempting to do is show that often very little effort is required to, in most cases, to contribute to a community (such as this forum) without adding unrequired information that may offend some people.
My plea is not for people to go out of the way to not offend, but rather not go out of the way to purposefully offend.

 

[reefkprz]

ok so to keep on the track you originally set,
I agree with several points you have just made,
I'm not going to point out wich ones and turn it into a debate of what we should or shouldnt agree with.
I just want to ask, that though we are sometimes offended by what another has said or done, is it truly justified to lash out (verbally as well as physically) and react, especially if no insult was intended?
or better is it justified to lash out especially if insult was intended....
methinks no in both cases, of course human nature and emotion often overrules logic, if it didnt we would even be discussing this. it would have been overlooked completely.
I have to say in my response to the original thread, that this topic seems to be based around, I included that it "was a poor choice of words but insulting the poster would solve nothing" there was more but I shall leave it out as it wasnt my most shining moment ever, and definatly deserved deletion along with the other post that got deleted.

 

[veni vidi vici]

Originally Posted by nietzsche
cool, but i hope you know better than to say "HEY IS YOUR KID RETARDED?" if he/she has a mental disability, its not cool to say that at all
Just for the sake of argument why couldnt i ask that question?"IS YOUR KID RETARDED?" If in fact the kid was.

 

[jerthunter]

I do not feel in any way it is right or justified to lash out because you are offended. I personally would try not to act in a way where I lash out at anyone. I have not, however, been in every possible situation so I cannot honestly say I would NEVER lash out because I was offended. I would like to think better of myself and think that I would either ignore the offending comment or address it in a civil manner.
If we are refering to the inital topic that sparked this discussion, I believe the person who was offended responded even more offensively and I do not agree with the manner the person choose to handle it.
I started commenting on the inital thread about the situation and started this thread following it closure to deal with what I feel was a misconception. Many people responded by saying that the word was not offensive or that the person should not be offended. That, to me, seems unimportant to the point. The point is someone was offended. To me the best responses would be, 'I don't care', 'I wanted to offend' or 'I understand that you were offended and I was not intending anything rude by it' or even no answer at all. I just do not see the benefit of trying to argue about how somone SHOULD or SHOULD NOT feel. They know themselves best and know what does or does not offend them and you would have to be quiet convincing to change their mind.

 

[reefkprz]

Solomon Short once said
"once you realize how hard it is to change yourself you will realize the impossibility of changing someone else"

 

[nietzsche]

Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
Just for the sake of argument why couldnt i ask that question?"IS YOUR KID RETARDED?" If in fact the kid was.
who uses that word to say that a child has a mental disability nowadays? you?

 

[jerthunter]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
Solomon Short once said
"once you realize how hard it is to change yourself you will realize the impossibility of changing someone else"
Very nice quote

 

[nietzsche]

is it still cool to call black people the n word or any latin americans a spic?

things change over time you know? and that was too of an extreme example i used, but no one uses these kind of terms anymore or at least shouldnt

 

[mr. guitar]

Matthew 15:17-18 says, "Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man."

 

[nietzsche]

Originally Posted by Veni Vidi Vici
Just for the sake of argument why couldnt i ask that question?"IS YOUR KID RETARDED?" If in fact the kid was.

btw, nowadays it's not cool to say that. people don't want to be looked at like that anymore. they dont want to be known as the disabled guy, the guy whos leg is missing, but the person who has a disability... no one wants to become the disability, but as an actual person who just ended up with the disability... i mean, if you cant tell the difference or dont care then why even bother saying anything?

 

[seasalt101]

Originally Posted by nietzsche
btw, nowadays it's not cool to say that. people don't want to be looked at like that anymore. they dont want to be known as the disabled guy, the guy whos leg is missing, but the person who has a disability... no one wants to become the disability, but as an actual person who just ended up with the disability... i mean, if you cant tell the difference or dont care then why even bother saying anything?
i having a disability thought i would chime in, me i do not give a rat's about political correctness i think that in itself is a major problem people see you as you are and that is it, if you do something stupid what are we supposed to say, it was stupid, if a guy is mentally retarded that is the medical term for it, are we such a gentle people as to not offend no, we are human and react as such people usually defenders of the handicapped seem to want to be martyrs for there cause and words are cheap

[hr]
political correctness and do something that really matters if you are so worried volunteer, donate, educate but don't jump my just cause i use a word that might make someone need therapy...tobin

 

[reefraff]

Absurd. This whole PC gone wild nonsense is nothing but absurd. What happens when people of Japneese decent decide the word Nip if offensive to them, do we get the big N word and the little N word? Do we change the name of Cheese Nips? I have no problem saying the "N word". However I have enough class that I would never call someone that. This whole thought police crap is getting really old.