# Is the term "handicapper" offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 25, 2004, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974 "2004-05-25T12:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/1 "2004-05-25T12:18:23Z")
I’m aware that different people have different opinions on the topic, and in posting here I’m trying not to imply that all disabled people agree on this. But I’m wondering if disabled Dopers could give me their opinions on whether the term “handicapper” in reference to disabled people is offensive. My father uses the term frequently, and it’s a little jarring to me, given that, while “handicapped people” is a phrase I hear fairly often, I’ve never heard anyone else refer to disabled people as “handicappers”. Obviously he’s not trying to cause offense, and I’m sure most people would care more about the intention of the speech than the individual words employed. But it still feels to me a little bit like calling black people “colored people” - if not directly offensive, then at least very old-fashioned. So am I living in a world of politically correct terminology, or is my father using a phrase that’s outdated? ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/2 "2004-05-25T12:33:33Z")
It may only be me, but the only times I’ve ever heard the term “handicapper” it had to to with sports handicapping and gambling. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/3 "2004-05-25T12:40:26Z")
I’ve only heard “handicapper” in connection with horse racing, as someone who figures out how to bet on the race, or, occasionally, the racing secretary who assigns weights to horses. The OED gives a second definition as a horse that runs in handicap races. No mention of it being used in your father’s sense. It would seem to be an unusual term, even before political correctness. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/4 "2004-05-25T13:47:10Z")
To my ear, it sounds a bit too flip to be inoffensive, or even respectful. You say your dad uses the term “frequently.” Is this a pet topic of his? What’s the context? What makes disabled people stand out so much for him? ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/5 "2004-05-25T15:18:50Z")
Like the other posters, I’ve never heard it outside of a gambling context. I think your dad’s use of it is rather odd, and depending on the context, it could be somewhat offensive. _My_ dad refers to handicapped parking spaces as “gimp spots.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/6 "2004-05-25T15:25:44Z")
I am not disabled, but I’d say that, quite apart from any offense, using the term ‘handicapper’ to denote handicapped/disabled people is just plain _misleading_ - I can’t help but read ‘handicapper’ as ‘a person who _handicaps_’. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/7 "2004-05-25T16:06:34Z")
Your father is using a term I’ve never heard before(a rarity), and one I think is offensive. Were someone to dare say that about me in earshot, I’d say something. I hear more than enough people saying things are ‘retarded,’ and I do see a segment of the population sniggering when a person with some form of mental retardation is out shopping. Some people say such things because no one has ever told them that it is wrong, and others who do it are simply assholes. I’d assume and hope that your father is the former. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/8 "2004-05-25T16:07:58Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > Like the other posters, I’ve never heard it outside of a gambling context. I think your dad’s use of it is rather odd, and depending on the context, it could be somewhat offensive. > > _My_ dad refers to handicapped parking spaces as “gimp spots.” Your father is a real charmer. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/9 "2004-05-25T18:08:58Z")
It sounds faintly dismissive to me; not intentionally offensive, but redolant of the desire to smack a label on someone and shuffle them on out of one’s consciousness. But it could just be part of the endless quest to find a noun for a handicapped person that’s nicer than “cripple.” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/10 "2004-05-26T00:27:23Z")
It was the PC term for a handicapped person some years ago. From what I recall, the reasoning is that “handicapped” sounds like a limitation, but “handicapper” sounds like someone that’s coping with a disability. Like most PC terms, this is silly. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/11 "2004-05-26T00:36:25Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > … it could just be part of the endless quest to find a noun for a handicapped person that’s nicer than “cripple.” > [@BobLibDem](#): > > It was the PC term for a handicapped person some years ago. From what I recall, the reasoning is that “handicapped” sounds like a limitation, but “handicapper” sounds like someone that’s coping with a disability. Like most PC terms, this is silly. In the UK ‘handicapped’ is pretty much an obsolete term - there was a fairly vocal disability-rights movement under the slogan “A Disability is not a Handicap”. Now, it’s ‘disabled people’, ‘people with disabilities’, ‘wheelchair-users’ (not ‘wheelchair-bound’). None of which are particularly convoluted, awkward or confusing. That’s PC that works, as far as I can see. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/12 "2004-05-26T00:43:44Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > In the UK ‘handicapped’ is pretty much an obsolete term. Only officially, or among the common people too? In the US, it’s “disabled” almost everywhere [official](http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/ADMIN/dmv/faq/disabled.htm), but most people still call them [handicapped parking spots](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=133820&highlight=handicapped). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/13 "2004-05-26T00:47:40Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > Only officially, or among the common people too? In the US, it’s “disabled” almost everywhere [official](http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/ADMIN/dmv/faq/disabled.htm), but most people still call them [handicapped parking spots](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=133820&highlight=handicapped). Both, as far as I have observed. I can’t think of any time I’ve heard ‘handicapped’ used. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/14 "2004-05-26T01:30:28Z")
A friend of mine occasionally says “handicapper” with a “yokel” accent, as a device to make fun of people who are inconsiderate toward the disabled. ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/15 "2004-05-26T03:32:11Z")
I’m a disabled Doper who thinks that using the term “handicapper” to describe a disabled person is more odd than offensive; I, like others, tend to think of it as a horse-betting term or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/16 "2004-05-26T03:44:13Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > Only officially, or among the common people too? In the US, it’s “disabled” almost everywhere [official](http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/ADMIN/dmv/faq/disabled.htm), but most people still call them [handicapped parking spots](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=133820&highlight=handicapped). As with **GorillaMan** , I can only think of a very few, closely related usages, e.g. “handicapped entrance/ramp/seating etc.” But it’s always used for adaptive features, never people themselves. The commonly used term is simply _disabled_. FWIW, I know there’s a sentiment toward _differently abled_, focusing on the positives rather than the negatives, but I’ve never actually heard it used. > [@neuroman](#): > > My dad refers to handicapped parking spaces as “gimp spots.” The only person I ever heard use this was a double amputee (thanks to 'Nam) and he had a mordant, Callahanesque sense of humor. Anybody who dared pity him got the razor side of his tongue. He could be quite hilarious, racing a “blue hair for the gimp spot” or bragging about his prowess at baseball–as third base. But you had to know him very well indeed, as well as catch him at the right moment, to make a comment like that yourself. Most times it’s just plain unacceptable. Veb ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/17 "2004-05-26T03:51:52Z")
People with disabilities in the UK get the good parking spaces? YAY. I’m math impaired, now I can park closer to the store door! My profuse apologies to those who are truly disabled. You can do my math for me. 🙂 Gimp Spots. HA! I love it. ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/18 "2004-05-26T06:04:02Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I’m math impaired, now I can park closer to the store door! > My profuse apologies to those who are truly disabled. You can do my math for me. 🙂 sorry, you’re stuck walking from the far end AND doing your own sums - i’m math impaired as well as disabled. 🙂 and anyone who calls me differently abled is going to be running away from a very heavy, very fast wheelchair. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/19 "2004-05-26T13:08:22Z")
It’s odd, but there are much worse terms out there. I don’t care what you call those spots, as long as you aren’t parked in 'em without a permit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974/20 "2004-05-26T16:12:11Z")
> [@](#): > > sorry, you’re stuck walking from the far end AND doing your own sums - i’m math impaired as well as disabled. 🙂 > > and anyone who calls me differently abled is going to be running away from a very heavy, very fast wheelchair. Oooooh, a double disabled and poised to crush my toes. Most excellent. Rock on, dudette. can I have your parking place at Christmas 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-handicapper-offensive/246974.md?page=2)