Politics & Current Events
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Re: What words do you find offensive?
R word
N word
Fag (sorry to type it, but the f word has another meaning)/gay
Other ethnically bigoted words
B!tch
Mixed (say bi-racial, thanks)
Mixed hasn't really ever bothered me. I know it bugs some people. I am a person of mixed races.
Most of my offensive terms have been stated. I agree about context. Illegal (I really don't like this one), half-breed, oreo/apple in terms of racial context, Towel-head, C0on, wetback, etc.
Zuma Zoom
Basically what everyone else has said, but I'd like to add feminazi into the mix. This is my #1 offensive word, probably because I take personal offense to it.
There is no way to "reclaim" it, the way that cv*nt and b!tch have been to some extent, there is no way to soften it. It's marrying a movement for equality and respect with the worst genocide in recorded history, and that is just dispicable.
What's really terrible is that people find it funny and throw it around like confetti.
ETA: cv*nt, because it got completely edited out.
I totally agree with this.
This is pretty much where I fall. I guess I am offended by the use of the N-word but with all those terms it's mostly because if you're using it, you're offensive to me as a person. I don't care what you just said. I care about what it implies you believe.
I agree. I was called "too politically correct" though (not here) when I once told someone "there are no illegal humans." Undocumented.
The others didn't even come to mind.
Oh! I was reading a book the other day and one character (who is Italian-American) goes by the nickname Dago... and that kind of shocked me. That would be like a Mexican-American saying, "Hi, just call me wetback because I'm the Mexican dude." I mean... really?! PS, this book was published in the last decade. It's not like I'm talking about West Side Story. I was always taught Polack was really bad. Not sure how I feel about canuck because that is both a deragatory word for Canadians AND a hockey team...
ETA: I'm also leaning away from "lame," though I know that's debatable.
40/112
Same as most of the others mentioned: the n word, f word, gay as an insult, c word, ect.
And I have to say that I find it really horrible that certain people on the Nest defend the use of retarded as an insult so much.
Mullet
Frenetic
Wool
Conglomerate
Prepuce
I thought I followed the appropriate threads enough but I missed this. Where did someone defend the word retard as an insult?
N-word/other racial slurs, faggot/gay meaning stupid and retarded/retard.
Other than that, I am an equal opportunity offender.
True story, someone (a brand new kitchen manager) yelled at me for asking one of my assistants to "retard the sourdough boules for tomorrow". Because in baking, retarding/retard/retarded/retarder are actual cooking and technical terms. That actually amused the shiz out of me, but yeah... as an insult it's pretty mean.
moist
panties
Worse when they're used together.
It just takes me aback if used to describe my son. I don't care for it personally.
N word and faggot. Totally depends on who uses them, though, and how they're used. As hate words, they are bad. As words among friends who understand the usage, I have no problem with them. I'll include retarded because I have found evidence of people who would be considered mentally retarded having a problem with the word.
But...you make my panties so muthafucking moist!
So late to this post. I looks like it has been quite a day over here at P&CE. I'm sort of sorry I missed it.
Words that offend me:
- maricon
- k i k e
- wetback
- the n-word
I remember we had this discussion sometime last year and ever since I try not to use the word homosexual.
"politically correct". As in when someone is trying to show kindness or empathy, and they're immediately tagged as "politically correct." Ugh. Seriously - 99 out of 100 people using that phrase are asshats.
And all of the orginal list, except 'queer' - that one depends on who is using it and how.
Decaf
Shed (verb not noun)
Bono
Low maitneance
Every other word has its place.
I think you mean "homoseckshul", as in "I apologize to my wife, Jesus, and my colleagues in the Republican party about my homoseckshul affair with someone I met in the airport men's room."
Having read this thread, and I may be going way far out on a limb here even typing this, but...I think it really is okay to type "***" when we're talking about the word itself and its usage. Why do people feel comfortable typing "faggot" or "retarded" when these words are in the same ballpark? For the record, I don't use racial slurs unless, like in this context, I'm talking about the word and it being offensive. What are we trying to prove? That we're so not racist that even typing the word is beyond taboo? That's a little childish.
To be honest, I get irritated when I hear reporters say "the n-word" on the news (which, granted, doesn't happen that often). The last time I heard it was in reference to some hate-speech graffiti written on a church. In this case, I think saying "the n-word" in the news broadcast did a disservice to the seriousness of the vandalism and lessened the shock. And that was wrong. It should be shocking. I feel the same when I hear "sexual assault" instead of "rape." "Rape" has a devastating heaviness that "sexual assault" just doesn't have.
I also think it's a little misguided for people to think it's offensive when used among black people in a casual way. I think it denies the agency of the person using it, and who am I to assume they don't fully understand their own usage of a word, especially a word that will never carry the same weight for me as it does for them? This goes for "faggot" and "queer" and other words that can be said to be re-appropriated. It doesn't mean that I don't find these words offensive in their denotative meaning, because I do. But it feels awfully paternalistic for me to think a group of people should not use a word directed at their group when it has a different subtext for them than it does for me.
ETA: Hah, apparently The Nest doesn't feel the same way I do about context.
Oh, that is fantastic. This...this is wine. Yeah. Look what all these idiots are drinking. Look at these dicks! Obviously it's not really delicious, like hot chocolate or Coke, but for wine...brilliant.