You do know that spastic is currently a term that applies to CP, just not where you live, right?
Do you think I was being snarky?
Many, many words are currently offensive all over while being absolutely benign other places. "Bollocks" and "fanny" meant absolutely nothing to me when I started university in the UK. You can see where that's headed.
I imagine when I was in elementary school in Hilo, HI, my cohort of second graders had no knowledge of what "spazz" was derived from.
I personally really resent the implications of the word "hysteria" so I don't use it. However, I am not offended by its use; I imagine a lot of people who use it don't know the origin. I was asking a real question about origins and usage, I wasn't being snarky. Like others, I want to be thoughtful about what I say. I don't go out of my way to offend. But I am also very aware that language changes very much over time.
(As a side note, the denotation-lover in me sometimes doesn't like that very much! I hate that people use "disinterest" incorrectly as a synonmym for "lack of appeal" that a subject might hold since it actually means unbiased, but it's been used so wrongly for so many years that the official dictionaries will probably just give in if they haven't already.)
Also, a Scot I know here called his neighbor a cunt to her face, thinking he was using a bad word, but not THAT bad.
The internet does not live in the US.
Do you think I was being snarky?
No, I thought you were being regional. You're in the US when you type, but once you hit post, you're talking to the whole world. It's your call if you don't mind being offensive to non Americans when you post--it's entirely your call.
But your phrasing implied there was a divide of time on the word, if you were drawing a hysterical parallel. I wanted to stress that it's no such thing. Tiger Woods just got called on it pretty recently. It's a divide of culture. Prioritise as you will.
The internet does not live in the US.
Did Al Gore consider this when he invented it?
But your phrasing implied there was a divide of time on the word, if you were drawing a hysterical parallel.
No, but I could see the clinical term of "spastic" being the origin of the "spazz" used by U.S. kids and the over decades of use, the U.S. kids would be completely unaware as to its origin. I don't think the average person has any awareness of the implications of "hysteria" just as the average person has none of "spazz".
And of course I can only speak for my region.
erinaceous's column for tomorrow's Globe sort of speaks to this issue, although it's about other stuff: [link]
I'm not aware of spaz ever having a clinical association in the US that didn't leak over from the UK. Not a cerebral palsy related one, anyway. So I don't think of it as something diluted by the passage of time.
What we need are more insults from sf shows.
Why is the only team the Nationals can beat is the Braves? Also, hail delay?
The excitement here over the last few days has been the appearance of a young dog who looks a lot like a Shiba Inu. He jumped effortlessly over the 4-foot chain link fence into my neighbors' yard, bonded with the two dogs there, and settled in. He's also jumped the fence into my yard at least once. Mr Peabody is hysterical about having a strange dog next door. He has no collar and doesn't seem to have anyone looking for him. Unfortunately, he's going to have to go to a shelter.
Well, I'm at my mom's now.
Guess who did not need an extender seat belt on the plane? And guess who was able to pull down the tray and not have to negotiate around her stomach? I was doing a sitting-down version of my Happy Dance before I remembered where I was.
Awesome, Kathy! I'm so pleased for you!
