Yeh this is meant to be a safe place but how safe can we go? if people cant say things at and have to keep their mouth shut incase they offend anyone then jeez we'd never be able to talk on here.
I dont particularly agree with the usage of these words but where do you draw the line?? If we start banning everything that offends anyone then a lot of this site would be wiped and i dont htink that would be good for anyone would it?
Yeh this is meant to be a safe place but how safe can we go? if people cant say things at and have to keep their mouth shut incase they offend anyone then jeez we'd never be able to talk on here.
I dont particularly agree with the usage of these words but where do you draw the line?? If we start banning everything that offends anyone then a lot of this site would be wiped and i dont htink that would be good for anyone would it?
Maybe we couldn't ban it, but don't people think that saying something is "so gay" is just a bit... I don't know... ridiculous in some ways? I mean, I say it occasionally and I want to stick my own foot in my mouth with how idiotic it actually sounds coming out. I don't know. Maybe it's just "fun" for people.
Yeh this is meant to be a safe place but how safe can we go? if people cant say things at and have to keep their mouth shut incase they offend anyone then jeez we'd never be able to talk on here.
I dont particularly agree with the usage of these words but where do you draw the line?? If we start banning everything that offends anyone then a lot of this site would be wiped and i dont htink that would be good for anyone would it?
Welcome to Britain darling member of the fairer sex
citizen who was born with the chromosomes 'XX'
In an off-RYL context (this story's rather nice), I was getting on the bus in Liverpool the other day and a girl said to her mate "oh my god, I hate it, it's so gay" or something, and I reacted by telling her that some people would find that offensive. I immediately regretted it, thinking I shouldn't have said that cos it would mean there was going to be trouble, but the girl actually turned round and apologised and said that she knew it was offensive and was trying to stop saying it, but it just came out sometimes because all her mates were saying that! I mean how lovely is that, really. It's weird how when you're out in public, people you don't know are usually grumpy and bitchy, but it certainly made her stand out.
Oh, and these three words when used in certain contexts are pretty offensive and I'd say shouldn't be tolerated. If you want to draw a line, draw it just under these.
I have a sister with special needs and she was humiliated for most of her school years, being called "spaz," "retarded," ect.
Do we really want to use words on here that could've been used for bullying?
:/
I see your point but to be fair any words could be used as bullying. I used to be a bit boyish and apparently I gave off a 'lesbian' vibe so in school people teased me about it and called me "Heinz" but I'm not exactly going to ban baked beans from my life.
Just because someone was bullied for some reason doesn't make it grounds for those words being banned.
It's mostly about context and intent here. If you mean to cause offence with them then offence will probably be caused, but even words deemed offensive can be used in such a way that they sound no different to any regular words.
I don't really know what my personal opinion on this is I'm just typing, really :/
i understand the argument some are making about how this meant as 'safe place' etc...but how helpful would it be to have a site that is totally 'bubblewrapped'?
I mean, eventually you have to turn off your computer and venture into the world....
Not only would it be impractical, and near impossible, to avoid this i think it could actually be detrimental in some instances.
It is right that we shouldn't cotton wool, the world outside will use slang. I know that I don't mind if people are using these words for themselves or with their friends, or at objects. However, you need to make sure that if saying it to an individual, the person you are saying these things too will not get offended, which I think most people know as its often used with friends in a colloquial manner. I wouldn't mind if someone said oh this computer is a spacker or alike but I must say if someone said it to me I would be quite upset if in the context of my clumbsiness because I have dyspraxia and have had related bullying to this. However, I would just tell them the situation because I know these words are used in a colloquial manner and not meant to be a vicious attack. If you are offended or upset then you should let the person know and they will probably be most apologetic. However, it mainly around friends and the person usually knows you well enough to feel comfortable saying the phrase directed towards you. Just my opinion anyhoo.
But I being poor have only my dreams, I have spread my dreams under your feet ; tread softly as you tread on my dreams.
We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.
Without reading the whole of the thread, I just wanted to say that I thought 'spesh' was just a shortening of 'special'. That's how I use it.
ie. I have a spesh place I'm going to today.
I've never known it to be used as a discriminating word. Words like retard etc, yeah, but not spesh :/
thats all (:
In an off-RYL context (this story's rather nice), I was getting on the bus in Liverpool the other day and a girl said to her mate "oh my god, I hate it, it's so gay" or something, and I reacted by telling her that some people would find that offensive. I immediately regretted it, thinking I shouldn't have said that cos it would mean there was going to be trouble, but the girl actually turned round and apologised and said that she knew it was offensive and was trying to stop saying it, but it just came out sometimes because all her mates were saying that! I mean how lovely is that, really. It's weird how when you're out in public, people you don't know are usually grumpy and bitchy, but it certainly made her stand out.
Oh, and these three words when used in certain contexts are pretty offensive and I'd say shouldn't be tolerated. If you want to draw a line, draw it just under these.
xx
And then what happens when someone else is offended by other words? How long are we supposed to draw a line 'just under these'?
I personally cannot see a problem with these words unless they are deliberatly being used as insults. A good example of how words that were once offensive become intergrated into speech is f**k - originally it was just slang to describe the act of sex, then it became offensive and a swear word, now it is more commonly used to describe the act of sex than to insult. Also take the adjective 'bitchy' not too long ago this would have been highly offensive to say and 'catty' would have been the appropriate substitute but now 'bitchy' is commonplace - even my mum says it - and when was the last time you heard someone say 'catty'?
"Has anyone seen my contact lens? It may be stuckto a tree or a rock or something. Oh boy, I am so grounded" Family Guy
if everyone cared and nobody cried, if everyone loved and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride, we'd see the day that nobody died
This is quite relevant to the simmilar discussion on flaming , and liek I said there (linking to this thread) it is all to do with the context of the words and the intention of the author... In real life our tone of voice is everything. "Thank you so much" can be made to sound incredibly pleased or sarcastic via tone of voice, but this cannot be easily conferred through a virtual medium which obviously leads to some misinterpretation...
I think it just depends what context it's used in. If the person it's being said to knows that the person calling them it means no offence then it's no problem.
I think if you're using the term 'that's gay' as in gay culture and not in a 'gay is a synonym for stupid' way, then that's fine with me, and in fact i think the gay community needs to reclaim it the way they reclaimed the word queer.
This. They're words. The only power they have to hurt you with is the power you give them with. If someone is saying it to BE offensive then get pissed off and report them or stand up for yourself. I've used and use, spesh, retard and gay all for different situations and have yet to offend any of my friends (quite a few of which are gay/lesbian).
Wog was orginally used as an insult to people of certain nationalities... but now it is just a term. It CAN be used as an insult, but so can anything really.
People need to stop being so overly sensitive about words! That's all they are. Words.
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Hmm I'm not sure if I agree with you there Jess. I understand what you are saying. But I think the attitude that words are just words allows casual racism and prejudiceto flourish. For example "Oh this nigger pissed me off", "Look at that bunch of smelly arabs" "I'm just gonna pop to the paki shop round the corner""Oh I met this guy, complete turd-burglar but otherwise a nice fellow". If people don't even think twice about using those words then when people do use them in a racist sense society has no recourse, if these words are commonly acceptable then when a BNP member uses them or some other skin-head thug, no one can tell them it's wrong, because they're "only words"
