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"Bad" words: what happened?


daijobu
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4 hours ago, marbel said:

 

 

OK thanks. I do know it was used as a slur among schoolkids, having been called that myself (my middle name starts with R) but I didn't connect that with discontinuing the use of the word altogether.  

Sorry if my question was offensive.  

 

4 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

Asking isn't offensive.

Doubling down and going "Well, I was allowed to use this word, and even though it doesn't apply to me or anybody I know I think that I am qualified to say that by objecting you just show that you're all a bunch of whiny babies!!!" would be, but nobody here has done that ?

I

Asking isn't offensive.

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7 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

Asking isn't offensive.

Doubling down and going "Well, I was allowed to use this word, and even though it doesn't apply to me or anybody I know I think that I am qualified to say that by objecting you just show that you're all a bunch of whiny babies!!!" would be, but nobody here has done that ?

In this case, we're looking at the euphemism treadmill. A word was a neutral description of a certain condition, it started being used in a disparaging way, and so they picked a new word for that description. In this particular case, we've been down this path many, many times.

Other times words just pick up negative connotations, and it can be completely random. For example, why is sh** a "bad word" but poop not? They both mean the same exact thing. Why is a**hole a terrible thing to call somebody, but poopyhead so comically childish that nobody over the age of four would use it? They mean the same thing. But them's the breaks, kid. The Language Gods Have Spoken.

In an effort to clean up my language a bit (and possibly improve my mood) I’m going to start using poopyhead as my curse word while driving. 

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