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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  4064 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Do you use the word "Retarded" as an insult?

    Do you have a word you wish you could shake?

Nope! I don't personally say any of the hot button pejoratives like gay etc. (except maybe every once in a great, great while when I slip), BUT I don't believe that certain words are inherently offensive. Period. Meanings are offensive, words by themselves just aren't.





thenewgreen  ·  4064 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I tend to agree that words are not offensive, intentions are. I was having a nice conversation with cW recently about this while on a nice run. The evolution of words that were once unsavory in polite conversation but are now commonly accepted is an interesting one. I believe the word "legs" came up. cW, what was it people used to refer to table legs as?

cW  ·  4063 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Oh, yes. Table legs. "Limbs" was what they called them. (That comes courtesy of Olive, by the way, whose dad makes period specific furniture). Apparently, in those times, there was much concern over those who "had legs," and beyond that, who knew "how to use them."