| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Coca-Cola apologizes for offensive bottle cap
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| | Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 15:32
Romanian to English
+ ...
| for the hypersensitive ... a few suggestions | Sep 30, 2013 |
Amel Abdullah wrote:
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I have no idea what people in South Africa, the UK, or any other country think of this word, but your statement would be extremely offensive to people in the United States as we do not call people with physical or mental handicaps or disabilities "retards". And from a parent's point of view, I can see why it would be very upsetting if a child with autism or another condition opened the bottle to find such a statement.
We are linguists and should, I believe, care about such nuances.
Since we are linguists, I suggest to move forward and change some of the titles that deem to be offensive to many:
- " The Physically Challenged of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo
- " The Mentally Challenged from Chaillot" by Jean Giraudoux
- " The Mentally Challenged" by F.Dostoyevsky
. . . and the list can continue.
Just imagine how horrible a hunchback may feel when he reads the title of the novel by Victor Hugo.
Therefore, we should act !
| | | | LEXpert 
United States
Local time: 14:32
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
| What the intellectually disabled may perceive | Sep 30, 2013 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
And while a deaf or blind person likely has sufficient intelligence to know that he is meant to feel insulted by the term, a truly retarded person is likely actually unaware of it. So the only people who feel offended by the term would be people to whom the term do not apply.
That's not really true. Mental retardation covers a very wide spectrum of intellectual disability, from mild to profound. My brother is mentally retarded, but he's not stupid; he knows perfectly well that some random boor who calls him a "retard" is insulting/mocking him, and not making a medical diagnosis.
When you say you find the term "retard" offensive, do you also mean you find the term "mentally regarded" offensive? Or just the word "retard" used on its own?
The latter, because it's the only form used an insult and almost never in any other context (in the US, anyway). No issue with the term mental retardation, which is a standard clinical diagnosis.
A while back there was some thread where a poster referred to something she thought stupid or non-sensical as "retarded". I thought about calling her on it, but didn't. Now I wish I had.
| | | | LEXpert
United States
Local time: 14:32
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
+ ...
| Good examples? | Sep 30, 2013 |
lee roth wrote:
Since we are linguists, I suggest to move forward and change some of the titles that deem to be offensive to many:
- " The Physically Challenged of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo
- " The Mentally Challenged from Chaillot" by Jean Giraudoux
- " The Mentally Challenged" by F.Dostoyevsky
. . . and the list can continue.
Just imagine how horrible a hunchback may feel when he reads the title of the novel by Victor Hugo.
Therefore, we should act !
Are these examples really comparable?
First, "retard" is still a common insult. When was the last time anyone used the term "hunchback" outside of discussing Hugo's work or others based on it? Decades? A century?
Similarly, the term "madwoman" (in Giraudoux's play, more eccentric than truly mad) is so dated that if you tried to use it to insult anyone, you'd probably get laughed at yourself.
Myshkin is F.Dostoyevsky's positive character in the story, and his designation as The Idiot is not exactly an an insult.
[Edited at 2013-09-30 20:43 GMT]
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 21:32
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Poll: which do you find offensive -- "retard"only, or "mentally retarded" also? | Sep 30, 2013 |
Rudolf Vedo CT wrote: Samuel wrote:
When you say you find the term "retard" offensive, do you also mean you find the term "mentally regarded" offensive? Or just the word "retard" used on its own? The latter, because it's the only form used an insult and almost never in any other context (in the US, anyway). No issue with the term mental retardation, which is a standard clinical diagnosis.
I ask this because after I posted and got those flames, I googled a bit about the issue, and it is my understanding that not only the term "retard" but also the term "mentally retarded" is regarded as offensive in the UK. Can any UKians here confirm this?
For those who live in countries where even "metally retarded" would be offensive, would you also consider the term ill-advised in contexts such as "fire retardant" (a substance that keeps a thing from burning too fast) and "economic retardation" (e.g. what happens when the country's budget don't balance)?
I mean, if you edit a text about fire hydrants and the word "retard" is used purely in the fire fighting sense, would you advise the client to replace the word with something else?
[Edited at 2013-09-30 21:03 GMT]
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| Oversensitivity | Sep 30, 2013 |
I agree with Samuel entirely. Whatever you call a "disadvantaged" group, the next generation will regard that term as an insult, since the condition itself has negative connotations which will never disappear. Anyone who is retarded in their mental development, and I use that term without shame or censure, would not understand the imagined insult in any case. This is yet another case of political correctness making idiots of us all. Although I must admit that some of the contributors to this thr... See more I agree with Samuel entirely. Whatever you call a "disadvantaged" group, the next generation will regard that term as an insult, since the condition itself has negative connotations which will never disappear. Anyone who is retarded in their mental development, and I use that term without shame or censure, would not understand the imagined insult in any case. This is yet another case of political correctness making idiots of us all. Although I must admit that some of the contributors to this thread already had a head start...
Steve K. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 15:32
Romanian to English
+ ...
Rudolf Vedo CT wrote: lee roth wrote:
Since we are linguists, I suggest to move forward and change some of the titles that deem to be offensive to many:
- " The Physically Challenged of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo
- " The Mentally Challenged from Chaillot" by Jean Giraudoux
- " The Mentally Challenged" by F.Dostoyevsky
. . . and the list can continue.
Just imagine how horrible a hunchback may feel when he reads the title of the novel by Victor Hugo.
Therefore, we should act ! Myshkin is F.Dostoyevsky's positive character in the story, and his designation as The Idiot is not exactly an an insult. [Edited at 2013-09-30 20:43 GMT]
How would you feel if you open a bottle of ale and on the inside of the cap you read the word "Idiot"?
[Edited at 2013-09-30 22:17 GMT]
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 21:32
French to English
| retards and idiots | Oct 1, 2013 |
lee roth wrote: Rudolf Vedo CT wrote: lee roth wrote:
Since we are linguists, I suggest to move forward and change some of the titles that deem to be offensive to many:
- " The Physically Challenged of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo
- " The Mentally Challenged from Chaillot" by Jean Giraudoux
- " The Mentally Challenged" by F.Dostoyevsky
. . . and the list can continue.
Just imagine how horrible a hunchback may feel when he reads the title of the novel by Victor Hugo.
Therefore, we should act ! Myshkin is F.Dostoyevsky's positive character in the story, and his designation as The Idiot is not exactly an an insult. [Edited at 2013-09-30 20:43 GMT] How would you feel if you open a bottle of ale and on the inside of the cap you read the word "Idiot"? [Edited at 2013-09-30 22:17 GMT]
Obviously anyone would feel insulted.
It's all a matter of context. You can use a word for the title of a literary work without insulting anyone, but throw the same word at someone and they perceive it as an insult.
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