I thought it was "jipped" when I was a kid too. When I found out it was a flat-out nasty racist slur I stopped using it even though I don't personally know any Gypsys to be offended by it. I don't see anything complex or vague about that, its called "growing up".

I can see both sides in "douche". My tie-breaker is that it is fun to say so I do. (My one sister is agin' and says "enema" -- which is not fun to say)

I don't use it around my sister. Or French people.

It appears that "Pussy" as "weak and ineffectual" comes from a non-female-genitalia source. [link] Similar to niggardly, however, you get the homonym thing. Again I break the tie with "fun to say."

So I guess if someone were arguing "gypped" is "fun to say" they might gain a little ground with me... but not enough to tip the balance what with the "flat out ethnic slur" being on the other side.

I'm still coming around to this, instead of doing the way I *should* do it.

Oh, the "shoulds". Bastards. I fight with them every day. In that case, I told myself, okay, what is it that I really *should* do? Pay my bills on time, or write out the damn checks myself and balance my checkbook immediately? (I never balance my checkbook; I don't even write the checks down anymore. And it's *fine*.)

This is the situation I'm in.

I thought you might be. I'm sorry; I wish I knew some way to make it easier.

So I guess if someone were arguing "gypped" is "fun to say" they might gain a little ground with me.

But hornswoggle and bamboozle are *more* fun to say with less ethnic slur!!

What it boils down to is how do you want to be perceived? Because when I hear someone use "gay" to describe anything other than a gay person, or "retarded" is used at all, the speaker goes down in my estimation. Maybe it doesn't matter to the speaker, but there it is.

Think of the hornswogs and the bamboozes!

I'm sorry; "Hornswog-Americans" and "Bambooze-abled".

When I hear "Gyped", I'll usually smile broadly and ask if the person knows the origin. Usually, they're surprised and horrified, and vow to not use it again. I'd leave the company of that person in a minute if they proclaimed to know the origin and still used it. It's gross.

I'm poking around and—unlike most of the other words we've discussed—all the sources I can find only say that it was probably a reference gypsies, but there's no direct evidence.

But hornswoggle and bamboozle are *more* fun to say with less ethnic slur!!

Sometimes you don't want to use so many syllables!

I'm fond of "temporarily-abled" to describe people who commonly think of themselves as not handicapped.

This thread has been very posty today!

I'm fond of "temporarily-abled" to describe people who commonly think of themselves as not handicapped.

Heh.

I try not to use loaded words, but as far as language used around me especially wrt disability, I tend to care more about the tone than the words themselves. Of course, that is difficult on the internet.

Damn. Lost a long post by closing a window by accident. I was responding to:

being someplace at a certain time, almost every day, dressed, showered, and functional, is virtually impossible for me, and my boss's understanding was wearing thin.

This is the situation I'm in.

I wanted to say that it's nice (as much as that's totally the wrong word) to be reminded that I'm not alone with that kind of can't-cope-with-life stuff. I just about handled it through five years of full-time work, with very variable levels of success, mostly thanks to some weirdly understanding employers. Becoming unable to deal with work physically, on top of mentally, was too much, and I now haven't worked more than a few hours a week for several years. Going back to school has been great, but that finishes in a few weeks, and I may have to look for paid employment again. This thought is making me very nervous.

Ha! A little on-topic, but hilariously Buffitastic!

Genius! Heh. Kids.

I'm fond of "temporarily-abled" to describe people who commonly think of themselves as not handicapped.

Yeah, TAB is a fun term. It has its uses, although I prefer 'non-disabled'. (But I'm, y'know, freaky.)

Reading Eoin Colfer's sequel to Douglas Adams' books. It's really, unexpectedly funny.

Sometimes, I hate you people. But in a good way! Because you give me all these thinky thoughts that make my skin itch and my conscience cringe. If the end result of all that discomfort, though, is that I grow as a person, I can't really complain. In fact, I thank all y'all for addressing such a complex subject and bringing so much erudition and politeness to the discourse.