OK, sorry. To Eve: I’m a dumbass and you’re not. It was my mistake. Everyone has a little button marked “self destruct” and you pressed mine. I just wasn’t bright enough to press the “cancel” button next door. It certainly won’t happen again
This meltdown now officially over.
No problem, dear heart. Ah’d kiss ya, but Ah jest washed mah hair.
I’m all relaxed now, don’t worry. If anything good came from my outburst, it’s hopefully that a few less people will use the term midget in future. Time for me to find something productive to do.
I’m all relaxed now, don’t worry. If anything good came from my outburst, it’s hopefully that a few less people will use the term midget in future. Time for me to find something productive to do.
For what it’s worth, Tapioca, I was making fun of you for using the term “little people,” not the actual little people themselves. It’s one of those rare neologisms that seems vastly more offensive than the term its meant to replace. Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I hear it, I can’t help mentally prefacing it with “Darby O’Gill and the”. I know if I were of unusually short stature, it’d piss me right off to be called a “little person.”
At any rate, sorry for tweaking you over what is clearly an emotional topic for you.
If you get This is Spinal Tap on DVD, there’s commentary (in character!) by the band. During the “Stonehenge” sequence they discuss how “dwarves” are now called “little people”. Nigel Tufnel says he thinks that’s a belittling term and suggests that they should be called “big people” instead.
I don’t like the term “short people.”
It’s “Short’s people.” 
Nothing else to add, carry on.
Now, I understand that some of you don’t know Sarah Jane, so I’ll tell you a little bit about her. She’s a lesbian Eskimo midget albino. She went to college and she started the Lesbian midget Eskimo Albino Student Union, and four hundred people signed up. There they were, hundreds of 'em, lesbian midget left-handed Eskimo albinos. Did I mention the fact that she’s left-handed? She’s left-handed, alright. - Dead Milkmen
I’m 5’2"which is fairly short. I tend to make it worse by dating (and marrying) only men over 6’ tall. I make short jokes about myself all the time–but I’m still within the “normal” range of women’s heights. I don’t think it’s at all funny to make fun of [insert PC word for various short people here] unless you know them personally and know how they’ll take it and they’ll think it’s funny, etc.
Gary Coleman just isn’t funny in any way, though. He’s a mystery.
Heh. Why do you suppose it is when someone’s putting together a list of characteristics for a “really REALLY oppressed person” the choice of ethnic group is usually Inuit?
In addition to Opal’s example, there’s of course the song “I’m the Only Gay Eskimo” by the Arrogant Worms; and somewhat related was This Hour Has 22 Minutes’ joke about “…has sent shock waves through the gay community of the Northwest Territories; we go to him now.”
(A month or so ago someone mentioned ‘gay Muslim albinos’ in passing and I was forced to admit my first boyfriend was a gay Muslim albino.)
My mom once had a blind friend who loved Helen Keller jokes. I’m fine with short jokes most of the time. It CAN be funny. My friends know that it’s okay to joke about it. It’s like ethnic jokes; if you’re in the in-group or close to it, you’re cool. If you’re a total stranger cracking mean-spirited short jokes, it’s not. Ya know?
Tapioca, I understand your meltdown. I used to do that. Having had a few things pointed out to me by a dwarf comedian of my acquaintance, though, my attitude has suddenly mellowed a good bit. Some media portrayals still piss me off, but it’s a catch-22; they want to act, those are the only roles available, so they take them. It’s hard to condemn people who are trying to make ends meet as best they can.
Hell, I know some people who obviously never READ Tolkien who were up in arms because all the actors in the LOTR movies are average. Never mind that “dwarf” in the real-world sense has nothing to do with “dwarf” in the books, and less than nothing to do with hobbits. That’s way oversensitive IMO.
If the term “midget” is generally not accepted, and a lot of people don’t like “little people” what’s the best word or phrase to use?
I’d guess I’m not alone when I’ve been using “midget” because I didn’t know what else to use.
It depends on who you ask, but dwarf is usually okay, or little person. Keep in mind that all we extra-short people have in common is being extra-short. It’s better to deal with people on an individual basis than to try to generalize for the whole group, especially seeing how widely scattered we seem to be. Unless you know the person in question doesn’t mind midget, I’d avoid it.
And never, ever, ever, ever, ever pat somebody on the head without prior permission. I once got chewed out by a vice-principal of my first high school when I swore at somebody who patted my head from behind me – I thought it was a guy I knew. Nope, it was the vice-principal. Being a wuss at the time, I didn’t argue with him. My first response to somebody in authority patting me now would be “What the FUCK are you doing?” and no apology for language!
I am, once again, boggled that there are people in the world who need this spelled out for them.
Incidentally, I’m 6’1" Don’t go touching my head without my permission, either.
I’m five feet tall, not technically a ‘little person,’ but fairly short.
If I had a quarter for every time someone has leaned their elbow on my head and used me as an arm-rest, I could use them to fill a sock for hitting the next one to try it.
You wouldn’t believe what people will do to someone they perceive as childlike and nonthreatening.
Not even my three-year-old son’s? 
:smacks rjung:
I think I’ve been whooshed, but just in case, DUH your three-year-old is fine. I mean, say, the random thirty-year-old dwarf you run into in the grocery store who’s buying food for her kids, or something. It really does happen.
Amazing, isn’t it, Miller? I guess it’s similar to the people who will pat strange pregnant women on the belly. At least being pregnant is temporary, though. I haven’t grown since I was nine!
I am not close to being a dwarf. I’m not even ALL that short but I am short for a guy 5’8"
You wouldn’t believe the shit I’ve had to put up with…
You see, even though I’ve been on the short side my whole life, there are people that think that you may not have noticed. Therefore, they need to point it out to you just in case you needed to know.
You get flippant after awhile and have retorts…so people might think you are an asshole.
My favorite personal example was when I started teaching college. It was a new job and so I gave the Dean of Instructions secretary 3 (that’s THREE) bites before I responded. After the third time of her pointing out my height, I then made a comment “Well, at least I’m not fat and ugly”
Did I say SHE was fat and ugly? She was but I didn’t say it. She complained to the Dean about my ‘assholishness’ The Dean had noticed her secretary’s behavior and told her that if you play with fire, don’t complain if you get burned. (she was a good Dean 
)
Point is Coleman may be an asshole, but I’m sure it gets really tedious when his very short height is ALWAYS what is important to other people. I don’t blame him one bit.
5’8" is considered short? Good Lord. My dad was 5’5" and never had any problems with it that I know about. What a bitch.
The average height of adult American males is 5’ 9.1", so 5’ 8" is only an inch below average.
I think little people is not PC, as hobbits are called little people. For goodness sake, why do we have to be so politically correct that we start sounding like we’re trying to cover an obvious handicap, or whatever you want to call it. I have a disease, not a sickness, not an ailment, a disease. It is not fun, but I can still laugh at some of the things that go on. I don’t want people making names for this disease, as that tends to draw unwanted attention to the whole issue. I’m sorry a guy is 4 feet, but people have been short and done well for themselves. And if he’s four feet, that to me is a midget. What the heck else do you call them? And if you say you don’t call them anything, then I think you’re being naive. You can call me a diabetic, I won’t get offended. I am a diabetic. I have some really funny stories about it too. I have a friend who has to duck to get under a door, he’s really tall. He knows he’s really tall, and he wanted a shirt that says “No I don’t play basketball, but do you play mini-golf?”