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

[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!"