Something that has happened (not hypothetical)

[Ricky87]

If it's "just a word", make up your mind. Use it or don't. Don't give me a list of situations where it is appropriate and where it's not. If the R-word is "just a word" it's always appropriate, otherwise it's not. The N-word is another of those words that's wholly inappropriate for anyone to use. Any amount of situational justification on anyone's part is just a lot of . . . words.

Agreed...I'm guilty of using the word 'retarded' in a context away from describing people with mental disabilities, but in my heart I know it's not a good word to use no matter the circumstance. Once you use a word it becomes a part of how you express yourself, and clearly there's far better ways of expression than to use offensive language..I guess it comes with maturity, and as an elected official, maturity is a quality you should possess..Point well taken..

 

[Nanci]

I guess it comes with maturity, and as an elected official, maturity is a quality you should possess..Point well taken..

Oh, don't go there. I tried to make that point sometime since the last election, _maybe_ in conjunction with the "special olympics" remark, and totally got shut down. Politicians are apparently not to be held to a higher standard than the gen pop.

 

[Shiari]

I'm guessing that the use of ANY word is OK as long as some people don't take offense to it? :shrugs:

The problem therein is that any word that can be even moderately construed as derogatory is going to offend *someone* out there.

For example, I spent a lovely semester dorming at college one year where a roomate and her friends would only refer to me as "That white girl" or "Hey white girl!" when they wanted something. Normally "white" is not seen as an offensive word, but it was the *context* of the usage that made it so. Said individuals also regularly used another racial epithet towards the third occupant of the room who was from India.

So now, in certain situations I find being referred to as "white" to be offensive. But it depends upon intent. I am white. It's a fair description. But when used as a derogatory term specifically at *me*, it becomes offensive. So too does the context and intent of "retarded" change depending on who it is being spoken to. I have never used, nor considered the word, when faced with someone developmentally delayed. In the ever changing medium that is language (after all, once upon a time an ass was only a donkey....) retarded tends to now describe someone who makes a particularly foolish decision especially when they know better.

 

[Ricky87]

Oh, don't go there. I tried to make that point sometime since the last election, _maybe_ in conjunction with the "special olympics" remark, and totally got shut down. Politicians are apparently not to be held to a higher standard than the gen pop.

No, they are..It's just Obama's mistake was blown way out of proportion. I mean, there were people calling for his impeachment..Clearly it was a mistake, but an unintentional one and he apologized immediately after. That and he was he was on Jay Leno, which is a place that basically demands some humor from him..Simple case of right place, wrong line lol.

 

[Nanci]

It's all coming back to me now!

 

[Ricky87]

The problem therein is that any word that can be even moderately construed as derogatory is going to offend *someone* out there.

For example, I spent a lovely semester dorming at college one year where a roomate and her friends would only refer to me as "That white girl" or "Hey white girl!" when they wanted something. Normally "white" is not seen as an offensive word, but it was the *context* of the usage that made it so. Said individuals also regularly used another racial epithet towards the third occupant of the room who was from India.

So now, in certain situations I find being referred to as "white" to be offensive. But it depends upon intent. I am white. It's a fair description. But when used as a derogatory term specifically at *me*, it becomes offensive. So too does the context and intent of "retarded" change depending on who it is being spoken to. I have never used, nor considered the word, when faced with someone developmentally delayed. In the ever changing medium that is language (after all, once upon a time an ass was only a donkey....) retarded tends to now describe someone who makes a particularly foolish decision especially when they know better.

Yep yep yep...Well said, though it does fall in line of what I was saying earlier..That some words have different meaning based on context and circumstance. Guess it's on us to be sensitive to the feelings of others while still being realistic about how offensive a word is..I don't think striking the balance is so hard, but definitions do change like the wind and it's a pain in the donkey to keep up with them.

 

[tyflier]

If it's "just a word", make up your mind. Use it or don't. Don't give me a list of situations where it is appropriate and where it's not. If the R-word is "just a word" it's always appropriate, otherwise it's not. The N-word is another of those words that's wholly inappropriate for anyone to use. Any amount of situational justification on anyone's part is just a lot of . . . words.

I see...someone who believes that context and intent have no place in language. I sure am glad that you don't teach MY kid. I want my daughter to understand that words have multiple meanings, context, emphasis, and intent, all of which are HUGELY impactive to their appropriateness.

Any attempt on anyone's part to remove context and intent from the usage of words in the English language is just showing their complete lack of comprehension OF the English language.

For example...Telling a grown man that is acting like a whining baby to "grow up...or kill yourself..." is contextually sarcastic. Telling someone in the midst of a nervous or emotional breakdown, where suicide is a very real option the same thing is cold-hearted, and inappropriate.

Nice to know that some of the teachers in this country not only lack basic reading comprehension, but they have no concept of contextual language. No wonder our schools are behind every other developed nation in the world...

Almost all of us long for peace and freedom; but very few of us have much enthusiasm for the thoughts, feelings, and actions that make for peace and freedom. ~Aldous Huxley

D80

LOVE your last quote. Too bad you obviously do not comprehend it's meaning.

Part of freedom and peace, at least in the US, is the Right to Free Speech. That right doesn't come and go depending on whether or not some find a word offensive. That right is guaranteed, and whether you, personally, like the use of a word or not is irrelevant to my right to use it. Whether you, personally, believe it is rude, uncouth, childish, or demeaning does not in any way alter my right to use it, freely, in whichever situations I deem appropriate.

Just because I, personally, choose to limit my use of certain words to contextually appropriate situations does not mean that others are required to do so.

Ultimately, it is the words that are MOST offensive that require the most protection. I hate racists and racial supremecists, and everything they stand for. But I will fight til my last breath for their right to believe it and say it. Rest assured I will also be the first in line to stop their actions when they cross the line from speaking to acting on hatred and violence...

I like how the individuals that seem so fast to strip people of their basic individual rights and gfreedoms in this country are the first to say that I hate America. Seems to me that those of you wishing to impose moral laws, regulate religion, and dictate individual morality are the ones that hate the foundation of this country which is, in case you forgot, Individual fFreedom.

Ultimately, Mr. Rham's use of the word "retard" in this situation did not directly or indirectly cause violence, hatred, or aggressive action against any individual or group. So frankly...the rest is just huff and puff. There isn't anything wrong with it legally or morally. Just a mater of personal opinions.

But since I am "debating" with someone that doesn't believe in Freedom of Speech or contextual language, I imagine my post will be dismissed as "incoherent", "lacking structure", and "impossible to understand"...:nope:

 

[mike17l]

No, they are..It's just Obama's mistake was blown way out of proportion. I mean, there were people calling for his impeachment..Clearly it was a mistake, but an unintentional one and he apologized immediately after. That and he was he was on Jay Leno, which is a place that basically demands some humor from him..Simple case of right place, wrong line lol.

And how long did it take Rham dead fish Immanuel to apologize?

 

[mike17l]

I see...someone who believes that context and intent have no place in language. I sure am glad that you don't teach MY kid.

I like the milk production of a Nubian, but prefer the meat production of a boer, which do you breed?

 

[tyflier]

How is calling a socialist a socialist a bad thing? Really, do you think he is anything other than a socialist? .Gov run health care, .gov run industry, redistribution of wealth, ect. Those are socialist ideals. I really do not understand why you get offended when BO is called a socialist. If he is not a socialist, what is he?

He's a Democrat. There is a difference. This is what I mean by people using the word "socialism" without hardly being able to define it.

And...what "re-distribution of wealth" are you referring to? I'm sorry, but I don't have a problem with a tax schedule that requires people making millions of dollars a year to pay the same percentage of their wage as someone making $10,000. That's not "socialism"...it's taxes.

I also don't have a problem with a government stepping in to regulate fiunancial industries that cannot regulate themselves. When financial coroprations lie, cheat, and steal to the extent that the entire country's economic stability is jeopardized, it becomes evident to most sane people that an outside regulatory body needs to be established. That's not socialism...it's common sense. You don't put the convicts in charge of running the prison. Period.

As for spelling lessons; it is reference not "referance".

It wasn't a spelling lesson, it was sentence structure. More of that stellar reading comprehension on display...

Just curious, how many degrees do you have?

Just curious how that makes a difference? A degree, or several, even, does not make you intelligent, open minded, accurate, or anything else. It makes you capable of spending a vast amount of money on a piece of paper, and nothing more.

What you DO with your degrees is what makes you intelligent, open minded, successful, etc, etc, etc...

KJUN has never done anything in this forum that impresses me, and neither have any of his degrees. But when one of them does, I'll be sure to let you know...

 

[Shiari]

I like the milk production of a Nubian, but prefer the meat production of a boar, which do you breed?

Do you mean Boer? Personally, I just like pygmys. Nothing like a sweet little wether pygmy.

 

[Outcast]

Ricky, this is a true story.

While in Afghanistan last year. Some of our support people decided it would be fun to take over our game room to watch Katt Williams. I personally dislike his humor mostly because it is mostly, if not always focused on the many uses of the "n" word.
So at the end of this particular comedy sketch, if you can call it that, he started doing a rap.

Well, my supervisor, who is Caucasian, said "This "n"(of the "a" variety) ain't got nothin on Ludacris."
Low and behold, Ludacris gets up on stage and starts rapping after the first song is done.
Now, the people, who brought the movie into our movie area and started watching it, got offended that my supervisor just used a word that not 5 minutes before they were just laughing about, every time Katt said it. And my supervisor said it in the same context that Katt was using it in, so the double standard reared its ugly head.

These idiots came up to me and asked me why he said it, I told them that he was using the same word in a non-derogatory context, the same way that they had heard it being used the past 2 hours, and that they had no right to call him a racist because he obviously did not mean it that way..

In my opinion, if someone is looked down upon for using a certain word, just because of their ethnicity, then no one from any ethnicity should be using it.

Yep yep yep...Well said, though it does fall in line of what I was saying earlier..That some words have different meaning based on context and circumstance. Guess it's on us to be sensitive to the feelings of others while still being realistic about how offensive a word is..I don't think striking the balance is so hard, but definitions do change like the wind and it's a pain in the donkey to keep up with them.

I agree that there are many words out there that have been changed into mean and hateful words. The N word started out as the word for black, there are variations of it, like in Spanish, or in Latin. But it was adopted by people to categorize a group of people. I don't use the word. I don't like to hear other people use that word, regardless of what they think they are using it as. It is, in my opinion, uncouth, and makes them seem very uneducated...

 

[tyflier]

I like the milk production of a Nubian, but prefer the meat production of a boar, which do you breed?

I wouldn't let him teach a goat of mine either. What's your point?

Or perhaps you're now trying to get me riled up by making obscure, veiled insults about my daughter? I sure wouldn't want you to go down that road...

 

[Outcast]

You don't put the convicts in charge of running the prison. Period.

*Sarcasm*
Have you seen what some of these people we have running our government have done? Most have a pretty little rap sheet...lol

 

[Shiari]

I had assumed (and potentially made a donkey of myself) that he was simply playing off the word kid, as I had earlier mentioned that an ass is a donkey. If I read his reply wrong, well then I'm sorry for continuing it.

 

[tyflier]

*Sarcasm*
Have you seen what some of these people we have running our government have done? Most have a pretty little rap sheet...lol

That takes a political discussion to a completely new level. There is no doubt in my mind that most politicians are just criminals with good grades, and rich breeding. No matter WHICH Political Party they associate with... But then again...so are most big business men...

 

[tyflier]

I had assumed (and potentially made a donkey of myself) that he was simply playing off the word kid, as I had earlier mentioned that an ass is a donkey. If I read his reply wrong, well then I'm sorry for continuing it.

Oh, I get it. I just know that Mike's replies to me in this forum have never, ever, been cordial, jovial, or humorous. At this point, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. But I won't hold my breath for it to last...

 

[wade]

That takes a political discussion to a completely new level. There is no doubt in my mind that most politicians are just criminals with good grades, and rich breeding. No matter WHICH Political Party they associate with... But then again...so are most big business men...

Chris I’m sorry, I can’t tell if you are being sarcastic here. Or maybe facetious. I hope so. I know you and I often don’t agree but I never really considered you to be completely stupid.

 

[salvadorian]

Umm...what? Sorry, I got distracted!

Wouldn't it be awesome if this picture was used in her campaign for vice president? Like, underneath it said "Women in a position of power"... heh heh.

I know it's not really her, but still.

 

[wade]

Well the Obama we saw in the campaign was not really him either. I think it's an excepted practice.