I've successfully stopped using "retarded," "dork," and "mental" (harder than you'd think because "mental" is WAY used in England)but admit to saying lame a lot (ETA definitely not in a defiantly asshole way - more like I don't associate it with its origin at all and need to be reminded).
Look, you got a little stabbed the other day. That's bound to make anyone a mite ornery.
Mal ,'Ariel'
Natter 72: We Were Unprepared for This
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
javachik - May 05, 2014 1:48:36 pm PDT #26889 of 30000
Our wings are not tired.
Steph L. - May 05, 2014 1:51:37 pm PDT #26890 of 30000
I look more rad than Lutheranism
Dang, I didn't know "dork" was a slur. I use it fairly often, generally to refer to myself.
t edit Okay, I'm googling -- because I didn't want to just ask you what it referred to when I have the ability to google (it drives me nuts when people who are already ON THE INTERNET do that) -- but I'm not finding anything.
flea - May 05, 2014 1:52:41 pm PDT #26891 of 30000
information libertarian
Huh, I thought "dork" was slang for penis. (Is that an anti-male slur?)
flea - May 05, 2014 1:54:19 pm PDT #26892 of 30000
information libertarian
And in "I love Google" news, there's an Armenian-American scientist whose first name is "Dork." That's gotta be hard in high school.
Steph L. - May 05, 2014 1:54:56 pm PDT #26893 of 30000
I look more rad than Lutheranism
I'm...oddly okay with calling myself a penis.
shrift - May 05, 2014 2:09:15 pm PDT #26894 of 30000
"You can't put a price on the joy of not giving a shit." -Zenkitty
I've been working on removing stuff from my vocabulary, too. Being mindful of my language often leads me into a "wait, is that offensive?" research spiral.
javachik - May 05, 2014 2:23:12 pm PDT #26895 of 30000
Our wings are not tired.
Ha! Re: dork. I stopped using it because I thought someone told me it was a slur for someone with CP! Maybe I am confusing it with "spaz"???? Yes, that's what. I don't use either. So am I okay with going back to "dork"?
Steph L. - May 05, 2014 2:27:42 pm PDT #26896 of 30000
I look more rad than Lutheranism
So am I okay with going back to "dork"?
I think so!
§ ita § - May 05, 2014 2:29:11 pm PDT #26897 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I'm forgetting something about why you'd think to say "mental" a lot, java, aren't I?
javachik - May 05, 2014 2:31:07 pm PDT #26898 of 30000
Our wings are not tired.
It's because I watched so much Ricky Gervais and his character in Extras says it all the time. I think in BBC Office it's used too. But my colleagues in Oxford say it all the time, too. I did kind of gently steer them away from it on my last visit, but they TOTALLY were caught off guard by it being considered a slur.
ETA: it was also the most used insult at Goldsmiths of fellow students