March 14, 2007
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On being ignorant
When I was a kid, everyone called everything “gay” (and it was never a compliment):
- “Don’t be so gay”
- “That’s totally gay”
- “You’re gay”
Then I went to college, and everyone was more evolved. Plus people started coming out of the closet left and right. I realized that the word “gay” was ignorant, and decided to never use it again. So I switched to the word “retarded”. It worked pretty much the same way:
- “Don’t be so retarded”
- “That’s totally retarded”
- “You’re retarded”
Very versatile word. Then one day, I said it in front of someone whose sister was retarded. She just about exploded with rage against my ignorance. I felt very guilty, and resolved to cut way back on my usage of the word “retarded”.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that everything is offensive to somebody. For example, you can’t say that someone “gypped” you off… that’s a reference to gypsies. I didn’t even know what gypsies were when I was a kid! I just loved the word gypped. So now I just say, “he ripped me off”. It’s less colorful, but it gets the idea across.
My language has been really watered down over the years, and I rarely use pejoratives of any kind. Overall, I am much happier with myself as an evolved human being. However I have to admit, I think I sound really lame (I hope that “lame” isn’t offensive too, although let’s be honest – it probably is).
I am starting to wonder: how do you spice up your language, without being offensive or ignorant?
Comments (122)
you’re right, lame is probably offensive. i think if people know how you’re intending to use the word, they shouldn’t be offended. unfortunately, however, some people look for any and every opportunity to be offended. obviously you weren’t trying to offend gays or mentally retarded people when you used those terms, so i’m not sure you should worry about it.
Just to clarify – I’m not worried about my past… I am proud that I am a better person. I just worry that my speech has become very boring – and wondering how to spice it up.
uh make up your own words!
or completely change the context of ones already in use.
as a teacher, i often have to correct students’ perceptions of perjorative terms. “that’s gay” – “really? it likes others of its own gender?” … “that’s retarded” – “really? it’s slow to learn?” often folks don’t even realize that they may be insulting someone by associating an aspect of their identity with negativity. i, personally, stick with “unspicy” language in the classroom, boardroom, or anywhere else i need to be “PC”, but good old expletives work just fine the rest of the time.
Lame is a word describing people who are unable to walk, so I guess you can call it offensive. There’s another word too – “bugger”. It actually means “someone who commits sodomy”.
Spice up my language… you can mix common sayings. For instance, instead of saying the cliche “holy crap!” or “what the hell?”, try saying “what the crap!?”.
And on the inoffensive side, it eliminates “holy” and “hell” from your exclamation!
You could try substituting inoffensive words where offensive words normally go. For instance, instead of the regular “wtf”, try saying “what the funky” instead. Or you could use super old fashioned sayings… “well ain’t that a diddly pickle?” Okay, that isn’t genuine old-fashioned lingo, but it’s close enough.
how about the word “ass”? “don’t be an ass.” “you are an ass.” “you smell like ass.”
so, unless i meet Donkey from Shrek, other people won’t get offended.
right?
hmmm…
i somehow missed the point, i think.
Use archaic words that no one ever uses or knows..They will just go “What? What is ____? TELL ME!” It’s pretty amusing.
you start making up your own words. my words of choice are “crud”, “ish”, “fudge” etc. and though it may be long, i sometimes say to ppl “what is your major malfunction” instead of “are you retar….” ok, I won’t use that word since u just blogged about it. Although, I think it’s still fair game to call someone stupid right? As in …”what are you? Stupid?!?!?!” can someone find that offensive? and if they do….just makes you wonder huh?
I’ve found making up words as you go along vastly amusing.
I tend to use Mergh, Merf, Mergle, Skrun and Puck on a regular basis. If nothing else, it leaves everyone else in the room with something ponder — always leave them thinking I say.
Make up your own, more creative words… combining two words together works well too.
i tend to use NARF from pinky and the brain and BARNACLES from spongebob. Yes, I have kids.
but, being cajun, we have our own form of offensive language. hell, we even have our line of jokes, Boudreaux and Thibodaux.. and they are usually very rasist and sexist jokes. wanna hear some?
The “bad” words don’t have any prejudice roots. Use those appropriately. Like F—, SH–, etc.
I hate hate hate politcal correctness. I don’t believe saying that something is retarded is offensive to the mentally disabled, but whatever.
hm well when my two best friends and i took a sex ed class at planned parenthood to become peer educators, we actually met homosexuals, transexuals, and two crossdressers from the gslt group at ball state here in muncie…and their stories really made us think about how we said “that’s gay” all the time.
so instead, now we say “that’s straight.” or you know, “you’re so straight.”
it gets the job done.
<3
That’s when you look around to see who’s in listening range, and then say gay or retarded. My friend’s brother is semi-retarded. Everyone in their family says retarded. Doesn’t mean they’d walk up to him and say “Tim, you’re a retard”, no that’d be retarded. My sister has a couple lesbian friends. Would I go up to one and say , ” Kelly, that was the gayest thing you’ve ever done.” No, that’d be gay. It’s just a matter of knowing the people you’re talking around and so on and so forth.
I am unevolved. I still call people gay and retarded, although I try not to do it in front of people who are gay or retarded. I have yet to slip up, but then again I’m not dead yet.
LAME?!?!? jeez what do you have against crippled people?!?!??/
yeah well that’s what happens when we need to be politically correct. i just use words that most people wouldn’t understand. it makes it fun. try calling someone puerile, facile, a simpleton, etc
this post was not lame. oops. i did it too.
You can’t
People are stupid – and they’ll look for any excuse to be offended by anything so they can feel more sorry for themselves
You know, I have been wondering the same thing lately. I like my colorful language. It’s comfortable.
I guess that I need to get out of my comfort zone.
Good food for thought, John.
i say what i want.
im not directly calling anyone anything,so it shouldnt matter.
i would never call a black person the N word(although i never say it anyways cuz i just dont like the word)
i never call gay people the F word.
i would never call a person who was mentally handicapped a retard either.
but i use words in other ways without paying attention to who it offends.
i dont get offended when someone says the color white obviously..so why get offended if soemones not directly applying the word to you or using it in the way that describes you.
read.
I spice up my language by talking very loudly and obnoxiously. All the time.
Lame? LAME??!?!?
I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW, my DEAR pet hamster only has three legs and some might call HER LAME. !!??!1/1. I find that VE%RYY offenseive that you’d compare your whole four-limbed self to her! OMGGZZ YOU’RE SO MEAANN!
Tehehe. Jk.
i have a problem with the word gay. i saw it ALL the time. “you’re so gay” or “thats gay”. i have to stop myself at work because my coworker who sits right by me, is gay. =X but i never mean it in a bad way!
There’s no need to feel lame, John. Be yourself.
Ya gay retard gimp gypsie nerd mofo!
what’s pejorative? that’s offensive! j/k!
what i learned over the year about offending people: SCREW THEM! screw is a pretty offensive word, well… TOO BAD!
i had no idea it was “gypped” instead of “jipped” – how ignant am i?
Shakespeare was a pretty good insulter and you sound really intelligent when you quote him. This site is pretty good for that
Thanks! now you can read my awesome xanga pulse!
and instead of calling things “gay” I call things “straight”
Thats so straight!
You are so straight.
Loved your post :~) -Niles-
I really appreciate all the people that suggested you use euphemisms for curse words, I mean what could add more spice to your lingo then words like frick, puck, crap, drat, ect. If you find it necessary to be PC then you are stuck to a pretty limited vocabulary. You can expand it by learning old English or a foreign language but most people won’t have a clue what you are saying which pretty much defeats the purpose of talking since if no one knows what you are saying you are doing a piss poor(that is my favorite phrase to describe something that is lame, gay, retarded…) job of communicating. Btw “What the Crap?!” is about 3 generations ago, hell(oops now I offended the non-religious people), I used that phrase in junior a decade ago. Really the PC phrases just make you sound lame. If you say something like what the crap around me I just assume it is because you don’t have the balls to say the real words.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!
Very true indeed!
I don’t think about it too much. One way or another, someone’s bound to be unhappy. I can’t change everything I say or do to please everyone. Of course I don’t try to piss too many people off either…
Well me and my mate spice up our langauge with words we made up for overselves to understand… anyway gotta be orrf… 34B bra!
That was in my school newspaper today. O__o;;
I find those rather offensive as well. I try not to use it now (old habits[?] die hard D:)
There are two ways i handle the PC thing. I forget about any type of moral barometer. I ignore others possible feelings and look confused if people start to get angry. The other way is I cuss like they do on network tv. While talking i cut my vioce out over anything offensive. Although most people can still fill in the words and even think they hear what isn’t there. “What the F__k are you talking about officer? I stopped at that G__ D_mn mother F__king C__k sucking light.” I say. At that point i get cuffed and taken in even though i hadn’t cussed at the guy.
I say foolish.
Haha, that brings back memories. XD Thanks for sharing this!
Haha, that brings back memories. XD Thanks for sharing this!
one thing i love malaysia for is the multilingual nature of it. I’m exposed to alot of chinese and malay, so for example, i use ‘gila’ alot which is malay for crazy, and it also sends the message across. I forgot how to say crazy in chinese.
It would be better not to use anything that might be used to describe or stereotype a person¡…..Words like “crap”, “duh”, “screwed”¡.
Or just use the F-word. Though cliche, it’s something that came across as being strong and colourful but people won’t feel terribly offended about.
using those terms in itself is not being ignorant (if you know what they mean). and as long as you are using them towards people you know, and you are not trying to offend someone, i do not see a problem with that either.
anything can be taken with a negative connotation, just depends on who the person is.. i recently started using the phrase “they jewed me” but i learned that from a jewish comedian.. but i supposed that does not make it right either.
so ya, i think the only way to spice up your language, is to use l337 terms. haha
The usual four-letter expletives normally do the trick. They don’t offend anyone, except those that can’t accept that “bad words” exist. … Or use large SAT words (but make sure you know their meanings). It makes you sound smart AND spicy simultaneously.
The latest is FUBAR F…up beyond repair. Wouldn’t worry about being offensive…..but then I don’t talk that much, at least don’t think I do.
I guess we shouldn’t use the English languaga either, or we’ll offend language. Wait, according to Henry Higgins of “My Fair Lady”, we never use the English language here!
Ooops, I guess we shouldn’t use the English language either, or we’ll offend England. Wait, according to Henry Higgins of “My Fair Lady”, we never use the English language here!
That’s what I meant to say! 
)
this post is ghey. and before you get offended, so am i.
I think people get offended way too easily these days. You could always use the word jackass, I don’t think anyone would say that their brother, mother, or sisters baby daddy is one (ok maybe they will but it shouldn’t be offensive
)
btw when I went to the main page this morning all of the text had a strikethru line thru it. Just thought I’d let ya’s know.
When I was 19 and working in an old man’s bar, I said “I’d rather have cancer than go out with that guy…”
Turns out the wife of one of the men sitting at the bar was fighting cancer.
I have been careful ever since.
My boyfriend has a potty-mouth.
Maybe you should go to a thesaurus to find some new words. For example, if you were very angry, you could find more different, more defined words to use. that way you wouldn’t offend anybody and at the same time impress people with your large vocabulary.
I applaud you . . . few people take the initiative . . . proper language isn’t lame, it’s proper.
People are WAY too sensitive these days. Everything offends someone somewhere. You’d think that in this day and age that people would be more open-minded and easier going. Nope. Seems like people are even more intolerant than I remember. People need to stop focusing on the words and more on the context. Saying “you’re gay” is way different than talking about an inanimate object or situation as gay.
If people watched BORAT that would take the conservative right out of them!!!
Yes the wording is offensive but since it is used in the wrong context to begin with (and is therefore unintended) then…?
Use clever words that people have to think about like
Fulsome 2 : aesthetically, morally, or generally offensive <fulsome lies and nauseous flattery
A fulsome meal is not acompliment!
also I love to use SYNONYM.COM to find good words.
Everybody’s got their something. I still use some words in some private conversations, very *ironically* of course. And I chuckle when unevolved folks say That’s was retarded or whatever. Oh, and kids still run around and call each other gay in elementary school.
Find a book on uncommon English words, pick out a few mid-sized ones that sound fun, then either start using them in your every day language properly, or just start sticking them anywhere they sound good. The only people you’ll offend with that is literary folk, and they should be easy to avoid.
I try not to say anything at all. Pretty much every word offends somebody or other.
Oh crap, I have just offended 16 people. And now 24. Damnit. That makes 30.
Be a pirate!
HA!
Sail on… sail on !!!!
I’m told I curse too much, actually. Don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.
Spicy language? Is that a slight at those folks with a little salsa in their blood? lol. j/k
It is hard to use more expressive language in a world so bent on political correctness. I find it most effective to use few, if any, cliches. Metaphors work well but are difficult to come up with quickly (though it is entertaining to talk yourself into a corner with one). Using foul language is almost always a sure way to prove that you couldn’t find a better way to express yourself (ie find a thesaurus, learn some new words).
Still, the best means of expression is to just say what you’re thinking and be honest. If people get so hung up on how you said it and ignore what you said, then they have completely missed the point…
Great thoughts!
Hmm… these things never even crossed my mind.
I also transitioned from “gay” to “retarded” and then to “lame” (and “dumb”) as I got older. Now I just make up words.
chrischoi once tried to rally support for the word “horange” maybe you can add that to your vocab
ohhh!! i didn’t know that “gypped me off” was referring to gypsies!! the things you learn every day.
i think the word —> pejoratives <– is offensive!
ok, that was just retarded. i’m so gay.
wonderful post. language and its uses are continually evolving because we as a society are continually evolving (i like to think for the better, you are a good case in point.
) take the word “gay”, for instance. first it meant “happy” and now is almost never used in that context.
however, it doesn’t make sense to just throw up ones hands and say “well, i’m never gonna make everyone happy” and give up on so-called political correctness. (it’s worth noting that of course, the phrase “politically correct” is also fairly new.) after all, living as a society sometimes necessitates personal sacrifice for the good of the whole, not to mention as a matter of common courtesy.
but rather than spend time making up new words or “safe” words, i think the bigger problem is the casualness with which people treat words. words have a life and history of their own, not to mention a good bit of power when used effectively, for good or bad, and thus should not be treated lightly. and it’s worth remembering that history is full of instances where words and verbal labels were used to oppress, intimidate, and otherwise dominate groups or individuals. ignorance should never be worn as a badge of pride. and i agree with the above comment that “Using foul language is almost always a sure way to prove that you couldn’t find a better way to express yourself.”
Making up phrases and having your own vocabulary is always an amusement to those around you. And I definitely say “What the crap?!” all the time.
did you just say spice? the spice girls might be offended.
.
my mama said that if you can’t say nuthin’ nice to nobody just don’t say nuthin’ at all.
or as confucius said, “less talk, less mistakes, more talk …”.
Oh good lord stop worrying about the overly sensitive. But then any intensional insults don’t require ‘bad” words, its just not nice to try to insult someone regardless of the words you use to do it. And if you were not insulting anyone and they take offense to words you used. Assuming you not using obscene words I just tell them to shut up grow thinker skin. I will not spend my life worrying about over sensitive fools. That is simply GAY
I ave never used that word in that way before. I think i prefer “lame”, but “lame” is a derogatory team for handicapped i believe.
if you want to be “politically correct” at all times, then that means you can’t talk at all.
How did that happen?
I have always refrained from using either of these terms, and congratulate you on your ability to, too. However, I manage to spice up my language by making up words.. You should try it – it’s really a lot of fun.
I like to employ extremely long words, especially ones from the Oxford English Dictionary.
wow! i didn’t kno gypped was reference to gypsies! ahh!! ok thanks for telling me john! lol
I don’t. Everyone takes everything too personally these days, and I figure to hell with it.
My students still say that something is “gay” when they don’t like it.
To be creative when I need to cuss, I stole an expression from the Mitford books:
“Rats in a poke!”
It says all I need it to say.
I make up my own words. No one can be offended if they don’t know what I’m saying anyway : )
1. I have a gay friend that say “That’s so gay” etc. He can take a joke, er, make a joke.
2. My mum’s fav expletive: “Oh, football!”
Technically, ‘retarded’ means ‘slow’ not necessarily ‘mentally challenged.’
i’m the same way!! i used to say certain things all the time but over the years…i realize i had to be more careful about how i speak.
I’d grab a thesaurus, and start incorporating interesting words you find into your everyday vernacular.
For instance, you could say, “That’s garbage,” which for me, works pretty well, but you could also say,
“I’m sick of this tripe/refuse/trash/rubbish”
“That’s nonsense/absurd/ridiculous/ludicrous”
“Quit your senseless prattling/drivel/blathering”
i agree with jiffipop. i also hate hate hate hate political correctness. i mean, i can understand a little sensitivity (oriental vs. asians), but i HATE when it gets so far that it becomes difficult to say anything without offending anyone. frankly, i really dont give a shit about these RETARDED people. cuz obviously, that’s what they are.
it’s not like you said “don’t be metally retarded, like this person’s sister here….”
where’s miss susie? she’s one of zhe xanga team…i can’t find her….-emo-
I say lame a lot. Whenever I catch someone saying “that’s gay” or something along those lines I lecture them about how unanimated objects probably don’t have a sexual orientation. And then they usually shut up.
I don’t use it because I have a bunch of gay/bi friends and even though they use it, I don’t think it’s right
well, personally I dont like swearing at all. But then life for me has been up and down for me, and there are times I felt like if I said a swear word to vent out my anger, then it’ll be all good
hwy whered you get your profile pic from?
I use either old english [like stuff from the dark ages or Shakespeare.] or really big words that mean simpler stuff, because the odds are if you use a big word only a handful of people would understand you. Just pray that that handfull of people are mature enough. =]
So true.
i say..”aww ur so silly”..or “silly you”
trying to make them sound good but same time ur tinking..wut an idiot..haha o.O
You spice it up by using vocabulary that most normal people wouldn’t know. ^.~ Start by using random words you pluck from the dictionary! I’m not sure if that’ll make you any more interesting since that would just make most people nod and act like they understand while going “What the heck did he just say?” Oh, on the topic of offensiveness, I should probably cut “heck” and “hell” out of my vocabulary because it somehow offends my SoCal friends.
You know what, you shouldn’t have to depend on your vocabulary to spice things up. That’s what your personality is supposed to do! If you’re monotonous, can’t help you there. ^^;;
Kudos on cutting the word “gay” out of your vocabulary. I have yet to do that, along with many other things.
I don’t think you can really spice up language without offending someone, unless you make up your own langauge. Then, no one will understand you! Haha. I know how you feel, though. I was thinking about the word “gypped” recently, too. I stopped saying it.
Dunno. I don’t use any spicy words, except f*kkk, which is too commonplace to be spicy really, yet I still manage to be offensive to loads of people. Hmmm, maybe I have spicy body language?
I submit: http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/ The random shakesperean insult generator. Otherwise… I usually say what it is that’s upsetting me (That’s so ignorant! He’s so obtuse! etc.)
Xanga suggestion: where you write entries, you should have different options for the border like double and what size
im surrounded by gay guys, but most of them don’t mind my language. or, maybe i just think they dont.
i think it’s all about where u are. check out your surroundings before u speak, but if u do happen to slip, people understand it was an innocent mistake.
Dictionary.com helps.
i’m in highschool and last semester i took drama as one of my electives. At the end of the term, for our final exam, we did a huge performance. We scripted the whole thing ourselves and it was set up as if two people in the audience were watching television, and the stage was the television. The actors in the audience would flick their giant remote and different skits would come on like T.V stations.
Anyways, what i was getting at is we had to be very concious (sp?) of our choice of words. We were performing in front of an audience of about 1000 people, and everything is offensive to somebody. We had to censor ourselves to extreme levels.
for example; we couldn’t use the word dork. Apparently, in some cultures dork is a slang term used for penis, and therefore it was offensive. We had a blinde person in one of our skits, and we had it set up to be silly and make people laugh, but when had to cut that part out, because we wern’t permitted to have anything “funny” about any problems that people may have that they can’t contorl (diseases, sexuallity, weight issues, any aspects of their apperance). We had the word PMS in one of our skits, and we had to change that because some women might find it offensive.
It is very difficult to please every body. There is always going to be a word that you say that will be offensive to some body. The thing is, most of the time we don’t mean it in a negative way to the people around us. If i say “that’s retard” i honestly don’t mean to offend any body who may be retarded, it just means i don’t like the situation that i’m in.
I don’t think you should have to cut words out of your vocabulary…especially gyped haha, there’s no gypsies around any more. I just think you should be reasonable with what you’re saying. I agree “gay”, and “retarded” are not the best words to use to explain negative things, but you don’t need to go to extremes.
today in english i told my teacher that ringing the bell for our attention was really gay, and he freaked out on me and told me to watch my words.
i’ve got no clue how to spice up your language without insulting others, but in this day and age, it kinda seems like no matter what you say, someone will take offense to it.
Always try to say things that are positive and uplifting. If you feel like you need to get out your frustration and politically incorrect words are the only ones you can think of to adequately express yourself, it’s probably best to just be quiet and listen for awhile! But if you do use a word that could be misconstrued, make sure you only do it in front of a few close friends who won’t take it wrong (as opposed to on a xanga blog for the world to see). A lot of times tone of voice will help get across your meaning, too. For example, I rarely say that something is “gay” so if I do, my friends just laugh… because they’ve never heard me say that!
I’m just so lucky to be fluent in another language…now whenever I get injured in some klutz-induced accident, instead of spoiling someone’s innocent ears, I spoil a Chinese person’s innocent ears.
Oh, and you can add random words into familiar phrases, for instance, instead of “Son-of-a-B____”, you say “Son-of-a-turnip.”
honestly, im gay, and i could care less if people refered gay to stupid.
i know thats only my opinion and theres millions of people who beg to differ,
but i mean, its just a word.
a word. its not like there directly insulting me.
or maybe im just being to passive.
that doesnt mean i dont get offended when people think all gay guys wear purses, and call everyone a hot bitch (i hate those words.)
i dont use gay though i use retarded. then id be a hipocrite. ahha.
but yeah..it kinda makes you feel guilty cause all the reatarded people have hard lifes and crap.
really, i dont think there is another word you can use. people are just anal about everything.
I STILL USE RETARDED. IN MY OPINION, IT’S THE REFERENCE TO MENTALLY CHALLENGED PEOPLE THAT’S SHOULD BE CHANGED, NOT THE SLANG VERSION.
Does, like, anyone here have a lighter…?
DUDE! I totally empathize. I had a new friend and I was trying to be funny and read jokes off the internet and she wouldn’t laugh at any of them. Finally I told her this HILARIOUS joke that might’ve involved a blind guy, in a totally (i thought) nonoffensive jokey kind of way and oops, turns out her brother was blind. The awkward silence almost killed me. True story. Anyway, as for being PC, I think it’s all about context. Obviously you didn’t mean for the word to actually be referenced in comparison to actual retarded people (or maybe you did, I don’t know you), so…yeah.
I think it takes work…and a broad vocabulary…then the patience to explain perplexed looks…and then digressing to a less interesting topic because you just killed the conversation….cut it off.. I mean ruined. no ended…really prematurelly terminated…okay stopped the conversation before completing everything that could of or should have been said to satisfy both you and the person or persons you were having the conversation with. Whatever.
If I feel the need to insult someone or describe them in a less than flattering way, I’m probably calling them stupid. Stupidity has no race, gender, or ethnicity. It also works for me since it’s the most common thing that makes me want to abuse people. Also, I can happily insult people based on their actions and willful behaviors. If someone makes me angry at them for being (for example) a vapid and narcissistic attention grabbing jackass, I can just call them that, and I’m all good.
i just wouldn’t care, just tell whoever is watering your words down to stick it
I was just talking to a friend of mine about the use of language. He is homosexual, so he says things are “queer” all of the time. I am straight and married, and I hate it when my students, or anyone for that matter, says something is “queer” or that someone is a “fag”. It is interesting how our language becomes more PC as we grow older, and who it is PC for. My friend feels no offense whatsoever when his students say something is “gay”; I jump all over mine. hmm…
make up your own words!!
Thank you, John, for your comment. You sure are swell.
And GAY.
That last part I didn’t mean.
Your xanga admirer Megan
That’s really sad John… you know just sad, of course a depressed person might take offense to that. I hear “gay” quite a lot in my line of work and I hate the word… It sounds so gay, like one might be obssesed with gayness.
Have a great weekend,
Tricia
ppl still use the word ‘gay’ a lot…i think it’s stupid. if something doesn’t have sexuality, u can’t call it ‘gay’.
Learn very interesting words…such as “ilk”…and use them sparingly – when people least expect them.
~Lady Tai
i used to say “that’s so gay,” too
but then i also switched to retarded
and after that i switched to “asinine”
but most people i say that to don’t know what that means
i figure you should just make up a cool sounding word
that way it can’t possibly be offensive to any particular group
i’m waiting for someone to say that the term politically correct is offensive.
Just drop the C word a lot
the C-u-n-t word, that’s spicy
you don’t worry about it. they’re adjective after akk, they can’t really hurt someone.
John,
words have lost their meanings.
they mean something
that they never used to.
so when someone reminds them
of their original meaning,
the only responses are
blank stares.
“why should I modify my ways
of thinking and expressing
my feelings?
am I to blame because
a few people are prejudiced
and hateful?
and why can’t these people
be less sensitive?
my intention is not to hurt,
but only describe, and convey.”
(is there a solution?
can we devise a new language,
where one word means one thing
and not another?
or maybe,
to stop the confusion
once and for all,
we can assign new words
for the offended parties.
but will not the memory
still linger in the adjectives
(now modified)
in question?)
I am foolish.
I have wasted words,
without anwering your questions.
Ever since I started living with gay individuals, the word has left my vocabulary. Being PC is important, but don’t let it run your speech patterns completely.