@#$^$&! %?#$%^@$#%@! &%*&! %&*#$%!@! $@#$%#$^*^*! ^@$#%!…
Oh, we’re sorry. Did that offend you? Because it certainly hurt our ears (or eyes).
Consider this week’s column as housekeeping for your vocabulary.
Guys, girls: the swearing is really not cool. Or attractive.
This may shock several of you, but “gay” and “retarded” are not synonyms for stupid. Merriam-Webster defines “gay” as happily excited, brilliant in color, or homosexual. “Retarded” is defined as “slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress.” Notice neither one of these definitions has the word “stupid” in it. So don’t use it!
Here are some suitable alternatives we think you will enjoy:
- Sugar!
- Sugar honey iced tea!
- Sugar beat faries!
- Fiddlesticks!
- Gee willikers batman!
- Fudge!
- Gosh darn!
- That’s whack!
- And our personal favorite, ‘cheese and rice’. It sounds like Jesus Christ, but it’s not. And it’s also delicious.
Don’t be afraid to call someone out.
If you hear someone say “Dude, that German test was so gay”, you march right up to them and say, “Excuse me, but when you can show me a German test that recognizes themselves with one gender or another and shows romantic preference for another German test of the same gender, then I will allow you to call that German test gay. But until then, choose your adjectives more carefully.”
Feel free to wag your finger, shake your fist, wave your arms, stop around, or some strange combination of all of the above. You may look like a mad man (or woman) but you will get your point across and will have delivered your message to more people as you will have drawn a crowd.
This your chance to get creative with your language. The same swear words get kind of boring after a while, don’t they? Be considerate. You never know who might be listening. Especially your professors. Hint hint.
We’re always looking for inspiration for our weekly topics. Got any questions, comments or concerns? Email us at witt.tips@gmail.com.
Or if you would prefer an anonymous method of asking questions, feel free to scribble us a note and send it to Wittenberg mail box 3229.
Keep it clean!
(Allie Ogden and Maggi Quigley / odgena.wittenberg.edu and quigleym@wittenberg.edu)
I looked up the definition of “stupid” and it states, “slow of mind.” This matches up with the definition of “retarded.” Boom!
Language is a living thing. While I would say that certain language is called for at certain times (and other language not called for at other times) I would say that to limit a particular word to a singular meaning goes against the entire notions of language as a whole (if we did that there would be no art behind literature and no meaning behind poetry). With that said let me say one thing each about “gay” and “retarded”.
To say that one can’t use the word gay shows ignorance on the prohibitor’s part. Gay means happy. It meant happy before it was used to refer to homosexuals. Homosexuals have used the word to describe themselves. I think of the Wanda Sykes commercial, “Watch what you say when you say, ‘That’s so gay!’.” I realize that if anyone gets offended at the use of the word gay then they themselves are not gay because they allow themselves to be unhappy. I consider myself one of the gayest people I know, so gay that I painted my entire grill on my car a rainbow. Despite my incredible gayness, and gay attitude towards homosexuals (and really all people as a whole) I identify myself as heterosexual.
Also, retarded. The word means slowed. I think being retarded is a good thing as I see the vast majority of Earth’s problems stemming from when people think too much and forget what connects all of us together as humans (shared emotional experiences).
To call something gay or retarded does not mean that it is negative (or necessarily that that person even perceives it – or the word itself – as negative). As long as people continue to take shortcuts (in this case addressing the individual word and not the person’s thought behind the word) then these perceived problems will persist. Let bygones be bygones and encourage new uses of language. Answer any negative energy with positive and it won’t matter what people are saying, but rather the emotion behind what they are saying.
One love. PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). I would suggest that if you want to be gay that you get retarded.
Just because you create an analytic meaning for two words doesn’t mean that other people have the same interpretation. Using either word is demeaning and offensive, calling something you mean to call stupid, gay, is creating a comparison of the normal term stupid and the new word, gay. When doing so, you appropriate the meaning from the original term, manufacturing a new, albeit relevant, meaning onto the new word. When using gay in this way, you negate the history of the term and substitute your own alternate meaning. Don’t use it, dude!