I’m not ignorant (of theword’s meaning, anyway) and it still gives a knee jerk reaction. Yes, it’s a perfectly good word, but why use a word that is (or seems to be) loaded with negative connotation when there are plenty of others to suffice?

No, I don't think we should. I'm mostly angry about the existence of the other word, which is also used by ignorant people, and which is the real problem. It wouldn't even occur to me to use the word niggardly, I'd just say stingy, but I'm annoyed when people freak out when someone else uses it in proper context.

I remember realizing that what I'd always heard as "chewed" was actually "Jewed", and being utterly horrified that I'd ever said it. In fairness to myself, though, I think my mother actually did say "chewed". I also thought "gypped" was spelled "jipped" when I was younger. Now I avoid saying them both because I don't like the origin of the words, being insults from the start, as opposed to being a misunderstanding of the meaning of a word.

I don't want to go to work. I wanna sit here reading Bitches all day and listening to Harvey purr.

The bottom line is that you put your freedom to use culturally offensive words over the feelings of those offended.

There are SO many things I still say that I don't think about that I really need to get out of my vocabulary. "Don't be a pussy." "Oh my god, you are such a woman!" (Way to contribute to my own oppression, dipshit Teppy.) And -- though my understanding is that this word is hotly contested among disability-rights advocates -- "lame."

Which I feel weird about, because I use it too. A lot. And "Entourage' has given me a horrible "douchebag" habit that College!Me shakes her head sorrowfully at. But she didn't know anything and I think it's impossible to write about "Entourage" without using "Douchebag,"

Happy birthday, Jessica!

Shir, that is a gorgeous picture, but wow. I would never, ever, ever have had the nerve to hang something like that on my bedroom wall when I was sharing a house with either parent. You've got (dirty) courage, woman!

Shir, I too am impressed by your chutzpah (a word I love, and learnt from The Girl) with hanging that painting on your wall. And it's fab.

Yeah, I hid it for a while when they were visiting and I was living on my own (with roommates). Then, one day, I forgot to do so. My mom told me it was beautiful, but needed framing (then it was hanged with sellotape on my room's wall). She and my dad framed it for my last birthday, so I took it as an approval for my taste and its being on my room's walls.

Alas, that still doesn't mean I have a sex life, dammit. Frankly, with my uni's schedule, I'm just glad to have something which resemble social life once in a while.

And now. All of that talking, about what I want in my room?
Forget it.

I got the shelves I needed today, and unpacked 3 and a half boxes, and I just want the house elves to get it done and my room clean afterwards. That is all.

Douchebag

I cringe at that one, and I can't understand why it's considered so widely acceptable. They say the shorter version of that on HIMYM, for pity's sake, when they wouldn't get away with a lot of other words. That, and the C word, are really beyond the pale for me. I say everything else.*

*I used to be a good, non-swear-y girl. Then I met the Bronzers. It was really that simple.

Seska, can I ask, what about that word makes it beyond the pale for you?

I'm not asking in a judge-y way AT ALL; I'm just curious. And feel free to not answer if you don't want to address it.

It was totally Shakesville that converted me to douchebag as a term of contempt; their justification is that douches and all their assorted equipment are purportedly benign items that in fact are just a cynical attempt to make money off of women's insecurity about their natural bodily processes, completely useless at best and at worst actively malign.

It was totally Shakesville that converted me to douchebag as a term of contempt; their justification is that douches and all their assorted equipment are purportedly benign items that in fact are just a cynical attempt to make money off of women's insecurity about their natural bodily processes, completely useless at best and at worst actively malign.

JZ is me. The concept of a douche is insulting from the get-go (women's bodies are UNCLEEEEEEEEEEEEEAN!) so I feel pretty comfortable applying it as an all-purpose insult.

And -- though my understanding is that this word is hotly contested among disability-rights advocates -- "lame."

Yeah, 'Suela pointed that one out to me recently, and I had never even thought of it in that context, ever, and...like you, I still say it. I also haven't been able to remove "gypped," either, and I have a Romani friend! I think I thought it was "jipped" for the longest time and was surprised to discover it had negative connotations. But it's so ingrained in me as a benign word.