I tried to discuss it without rancor and articulate my process and concerns with culling language.

Defending your right to be deeply offensive in calm tones doesn't mean you're not, you know, deeply offensive.

Man, if only we had a word that meant "gyp" pretty much exactly, and didn't tie back even theoretically to negative ethnic stereotypes. If only.

English is so synonym poor.

I have to admit, I don't necessarily like the *idea* of coming at language from a *might* offend someone standpoint, however two things:

a) I am coming at that from a place of privelege of being white, middle class, and American. So while I may not like it, there is, for me, a certain responsibility I have to be more cognizant of the words I choose.

b) self-editing specific words to err on the side of not offending is, again - just to me, on the same level of not discussing certain topics with certain people because I know that there is a sensitivity, an opposing viewpoint (if past experience has shown neither side can argue logically and openly about it), etc.

But I do wonder if sometimes we (the general "we") can look for offensive meanings and/or place offense on words that mightn't have been there or not currently there in the word's common usage?

But I do wonder if sometimes we (the general "we") can look for offensive meanings and/or place offense on words that mightn't have been there or not currently there in the word's common usage?

I think that happens. But I also think what's happening is that marginalized groups have been speaking up more, to say, Hey, you know what? Using this term that applies to us as a pejorative to mean "bad" (like "lame") isn't really cool. I think that the existence of the Interwebs, for one thing, allows for more communication on things like that (marginalized groups speaking up), and so it can seem like suddenly everyone has an objection. But really, the objection was probably always there, just never voiced in such a widespread way.

That totally makes sense.

You let every yahoo have an internet connection, and then they start complaining.

We never should have let the wimmins learn to read.

Wait.

The owners of Yahoo have an issue with you calling goofy (and/or ignorant people) "yahoos".

Wimmins - I have no issue with. Ha.

The owners of Yahoo have an issue with you calling goofy (and/or ignorant people) "yahoos".

Nah, I meant that the owners of Yahoo are goofy.

OR DID I?!?

Wimmins - I have no issue with. Ha.

Totally should never have taught us the alphabet. Or the cipherin'.

Cipherin' - that when ya git the gas from the tractor to the truck, right?

Funniest conversation I ever had? My cousins delineating the heirarchy (sp?) of redneck, hillbilly, hilljack, and white trash. My cousins put themselves firmly in the redneck category because while they may hunt and chew tobacco, they do not let any broken down vehicle sit on their land for more than the two days it might take to get the wrecker out to their place AND (this one killed me) - they let the dogs sleep indoors.

My cousins delineating the heirarchy (sp?) of redneck, hillbilly, hilljack, and white trash.

That sounds like a conversation my brother and I need to hear. I believe we are rednecks, though Our People are hillbillies.

What is a Hilljack?

The one word origin thing that I heard was false was that picnic comes from picaninnies (sp). We did stop having an end of year picnic and started having a cookout- which in fact was much more descriptive of what we did, since it did not involve baskets