(no subject)

[dreamer_easy]

It irks me when people use the words "retarded" and "spastic" as insults or jokes. It's so commonplace that I'm sure there's no malice involved, only thoughtlessness - the kids throwing them around may have no idea what they actually mean. Or meant. Long disused except as children's insults, the words have become somewhat detached from their original meanings.

In fact, I thought perhaps I was being a bit hypocritical - didn't words like "moron" and "idiot", which I use quite happily, once have technical medical definitions? A quick rummage at askoxford.com revealed I was mistaken. "Moron" and "idiot", from the Greek, mean "stupid person" and "ignoramus" respectively.

The word "cretin", though, was actually once used to mean someone with congenital hypothyroidism: from Swiss French, it means "Christian". The dictionary suggests that this was meant to remind people that the intellectually disabled were fellow human beings.

Comments

[hergrace.livejournal.com]

Interestingly enough, a dear fellow at our church who has (I think) MD likes to shock people by referring to himself as spastic (or a spazz). Of course, that's the original meaning of the word. He actually has very good use of his limbs for someone with MD and has only recently had to resort to a motorized chair. (it doesn't hurt that he's very nice looking as well.)

My 10-yr-old is probably one of the few kids in his school to use the term "gay" appropriately. I suppose it helps when you have many, many gay acquaintances at school plus two men in a committed, loving relationship next door.

I'm proud of that boy. :-)

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

I'd be proud of him if he was my son.

[angriest.livejournal.com]

I am married to a woman who suffers from mild-to-moderate spasticity (depending on how her MS is going that day) and she keeps trying to promote "spaz" as a personal badge of honour, the same way you hear African Americans use "nigger" or homosexuals use "fag". Not sure it's a good thing in any of the three cases.

[angriest.livejournal.com]

And, of course, said wife would be the lie-xin Dave mentions below.

[matthewwolff.livejournal.com]

When a word has been used to cause such pain to a group of people, it is really empowering to be able to hijack that word as a sort of badge of honor. ;)