Tales in Etymology

[jackshoegazer]

I was reading an article about how U2's Bono recently called Elvis a "white nigger" which is pretty fucking racist no matter how he meant it.  In the article, it mentions that in the poem that Bono read, there are offensive words like "nigger" (obviously) and "spastic".

HUH?  Spastic is an offensive word?  So I looked it up.  I had no idea that the word had its origins with cerebral palsy, the main symptom of which is spasticity.  Growing up, I knew that words like nerd, geek, spaz, dweeb, et cetera... all had original and quite specific meanings, but they sort of homogenized into rather bland slang insults meaning roughly the same thing.

Now my vocabulary is better and more specific and now I will only use spastic in proper context.  (Though, I never ever called anyone a spaz.)  However, I still have a hard time not saying "retarded" as a pejorative.
 

Comments

[sasha-feather.livejournal.com]

I see Dan Savage is saying "leotarded" these days instead of "retarded".

I'm a panelist at WisCon for this panel:

Rethinking Disabling Metaphor

Insults and epithets are pervasively framed as physical and mental differences, such as "they are blind to needed change and deaf to reason." These unconscious metaphors strongly influence how people with actual disabilities are perceived—by the world and by ourselves. This highly–interactive session will include role play and brainstorming to identify these disabling metaphors, deconstruct their logical errors, and invent more accurate, yet still powerful alternatives.

So I've been thinking about it a lot. We all do it-- it's insidious! I'm been trying lately to eliminate "lame" from my stock pejoratives. In fact, I wonder about pejoratives as a category. Insults are the worst offenders-- we insult people by categorizing them as gay, as retarded, as lame, as "pussies". It's revealing about what we devalue in our heads and in society.

I'm just thinking out loud here.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

We need to accentuate accurate negative pejoratives! Nazi! Neocon! Douche! Dan Brown book! Wet dog smell! Poopie!

[balamuthia.livejournal.com]

I think I have to start calling people "wet dog smell".


In fact, I know I do.

[sasha-feather.livejournal.com]

I really like the wet dog smell one, and the Dan Brown book!

I'm not so sure about Nazi-- maybe I've just heard "Femi-Nazi" too many times!

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

It's interesting- with many of these phrases, there is a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. With others, like crazy, dictionaries have adpoted the newer use and the medical field has abandoned the older use - meaning, people aren't clinically "crazy," but a dress could have a crazy color pattern, or a plan could be "crazy" and the dictionary would define that as random or bizarre or unrealistic. In the case of lame, as an adjective it also means weak, or feeble - a lame excuse is one that doesn't hold up to scruitiny, and a lame leg is one that doesn't hold up the body effectively.

Language is so organic, and I've fascinated with how meanings change over time - a "geek" used to be a carnival freak that bit the heads off of chickens (and other vulgar acts), and a "dork" was a penis! "Square" used to mean honest, trustworthy, and together, and then the meaning was used in a derogatory sense after WWII. "Schmuck" literally means penis in Yiddish!

[sasha-feather.livejournal.com]

That is a great deconstruction! *thinks* It's clarifying for me when and why "lame" is derogatory... a lame excuse is a feeble excuse, a lame leg is a lame leg, (and it's a common term for horses), and those are accurate terms. But when someone says, "Oh, you're so lame for not coming out with us tonight and doing X instead," which has become very casual and accepted speech, it seems like the underlying subtext is-- "you are weak and feeble, therefore unacceptable/uncool". It creeps in.

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

Yes! The derogatory use is insidious - it does creep in! I'm trying to think of what might be a better phrase than "You're so lame for not coming out" because I use it in that context all the time.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

How about, "I am moderately disappointed that I will not be enjoying your exuberant company this fine evening."

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

"You're so disappointing!"