# Shape up, US papers, and don't be spazzes **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 11, 2006, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206 "2006-04-11T08:02:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/21 "2006-04-11T13:30:05Z")
But is it used to describe someone who is a klutz like it is in the U.S.? Or maybe an offensive name to call the mentally disabled? Who was it that said that England and the U.S. are seperated by a common language? We’ll keep spaz and fanny. Bloody can still mean gory to us. Y’all can keep fag. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/22 "2006-04-11T13:36:33Z")
Living in Canada, I’ve honestly never heard “Spaz” or “spastic” used to describe people with cerebral palsy. “Spaz” just means, well, a spaz; in my experience it was usually applied to either someone who was clumsy, or someone prone to really freaking out with a temper tantrum, like Steve Stemareens, who we called Steve Spazzareems because if things did not go his way in a road hockey game he’d hurl himself to the ground and just go berzerk. It might be hideously offensive in the UK, but I’m quite certain Woods was referring to clumsiness, not a physical disability. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/23 "2006-04-11T13:36:57Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] But is it used to describe someone who is a klutz like it is in the U.S.? Or maybe an offensive name to call the mentally disabled? [quote] It just means someone who screws things up. Nothing more. For the record, I despise media outlets which bowdlerize things, give dishonest or misleading translations, etc. People curse. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/24 "2006-04-11T13:48:20Z")
“Spaz” is as offensive as “nigger”? That is _so_ retarded. I am now hearing the “Spaz…Spaz…Spaz…” chant from _Meatballs_ in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/25 "2006-04-11T13:48:50Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > But is it used to describe someone who is a klutz like it is in the U.S.? Or maybe an offensive name to call the mentally disabled? It is supposed to be a derogatory term to be aimed at someone who’s just done something physically inept, but it’s not so much offensive to the person it’s aimed at (assuming they don’t actually have cerebral palsy), but rather to the group it disparages by association (i.e. those who _do_ have CP). Basically it has the same meaning as it does for you, but with an extra, nastier twang. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/26 "2006-04-11T13:59:14Z")
> [@Dead Badger](#): > > I am surprised, however, that the LA Times saw fit to change the word, which seems a bit dubious on purely journalistic grounds. The unspoken assumption in this statement is that the LA Times has some connection to “journalism.” I can assure you that the only thing that the LA Times invariably reports correctly is whether there is a sale at the Robinsons-May. Since approximately 80% of the paper is advertising, they take their business very, very seriously. If the LA Times indeed changed the word, my guess is that they couldn’t figure out how to spell it, not because they believed it to be offensive. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/27 "2006-04-11T14:02:58Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > It’s use to insult someone. It’s shorthand for spastic like calling someone a mongo(Down Syndrome). > > Mostly IME “spa” is used. And this is the first I’ve ever heard of “mongo”. We call Down’s Syndrome folk, uh, we don’t have a name for them–we say they have “Down’s”. People with dementia who get confused at noc are often called (in health care) “sundowners” but we have no equivalent “Downer’s” for DS people. Mongoloid is an OLD name for DS–and is not used here in the US. I have great potential to be a spaz, although I am less of a klutz than a spaz. (spaz to me includes some psychological aspects, unlike klutz, which is pure clumsiness). Teens spaz out alot, as do 2 year olds when they don’t get their way. Older women sometimes spaz out when the bank teller counts out their money incorrectly, etc. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/28 "2006-04-11T14:08:15Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I don’t know if the general public realized just how many times sports writers make small changes to locker room quotes from other athletes. It’s very common in the major team sports since the players tend to use colorful language in the locker room. The press is there, sticking mikes in the face of a pitcher who just gave up a walk off homerun, his quote might not be very PC. It’s funny. The sports columnists always complain about how the athletes are all carefully vetted and never say anything interesting in interviews any more. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/29 "2006-04-11T14:13:11Z")
> [@Guy Incongnito](#): > > The L.A. Times didn’t actually change the quote. They made it clear they were omitting a word by placing an alternate meaning in square brackets, which is the standard method. Thanks for the, er, straight dope. Still bizarre, but, as **Dead Badger** says - good name, by the way - maybe the _Times_ has an Angloscientic, if not -philic, sub-editor. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/30 "2006-04-11T14:19:51Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I am now hearing the “Spaz…Spaz…Spaz…” chant from _Meatballs_ in my head. That’s what’s been running through my head throughout the whole thread. And it’s been decades since I saw that movie. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/31 "2006-04-11T14:29:11Z")
> [@Campion](#): > > If the LA Times indeed changed the word, my guess is that they couldn’t figure out how to spell it, not because they believed it to be offensive. ooh–snap! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/32 "2006-04-11T14:49:33Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > But is it used to describe someone who is a klutz like it is in the U.S.? Or maybe an offensive name to call the mentally disabled? > Who was it that said that England and the U.S. are seperated by a common language? We’ll keep spaz and fanny. Bloody can still mean gory to us. Y’all can keep fag. Spazz, as some has said, is a derogatory shortening of ‘spastic’ and was generally deemed offensive when I was growing up. I find the US use offensive as it still seems to come from ‘spastic’, even if it means ‘klutz’. But as I said - I think this is an age thing. I’m sure kids in this country use it without any qualms. ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/33 "2006-04-11T15:25:13Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > That’s what’s been running through my head throughout the whole thread. And it’s been decades since I saw that movie. Totally. I had no idea this was a derogatory term somewhere. I equated it to spaz = nerd, since Tiger’s buddies at Stanford nicknamed him [Urkel](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096579/). Of the 8 or 9 online news articles ([SI.com](http://SI.com), etc), including the two local newspapers, all shortened the quote to “I was a total spaz, I putted atrociously”. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/34 "2006-04-11T15:38:34Z")
> [@BF](#): > > Totally. I had no idea this was a derogatory term somewhere. I equated it to spaz = nerd, since Tiger’s buddies at Stanford nicknamed him [Urkel](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096579/). Of the 8 or 9 online news articles ([SI.com](http://SI.com), etc), including the two local newspapers, all shortened the quote to “I was a total spaz, I putted atrociously”. Using spaz as a noun just heightens the link to ‘spastic’ in my ears. ‘I putted like a total spastic.’ ‘He danced like a total nigger’. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/35 "2006-04-11T15:54:13Z")
> [@Guy Incongnito](#): > > The L.A. Times didn’t actually change the quote. They made it clear they were omitting a word by placing an alternate meaning in square brackets, which is the standard method. > > Saying: “As good as I hit it, that’s as bad as I putted and it’s frustrating, because I felt so in control of my ball from tee to green, and once I got on the green I was a [wreck]” means “we omitted some words, the meaning of which amounts to ‘wreck.’” The Times’s action may have been cowardly, but it wasn’t dishonest. But square brackets, when used like this, are meant to help the writer clarify something or convey a meaning that might have been lost if the original words were used. In this case, the writer had no need to fill in a blank space in order to help convey meaning. The word that Woods used conveyed all the meaning that was necessary, and substituting another word changed the original without adding anything useful. It was poor journalistic practice, _and_ dishonest. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/36 "2006-04-11T16:10:00Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > But square brackets, when used like this, are meant to help the writer clarify something or convey a meaning that might have been lost if the original words were used. > > In this case, the writer had no need to fill in a blank space in order to help convey meaning. The word that Woods used conveyed all the meaning that was necessary, and substituting another word changed the original without adding anything useful. It was poor journalistic practice, _and_ dishonest. Agreed. And count me in with people who don’t think of it as offensive. I understand the word’s origins, and I don’t use it because I know it’s offensive to some people, but to me it would seem bizarre to use “spastic” to describe someone with cerebral palsy. I know that used to be a common usage, but at least in the U.S. I think we’re several decades out from the word having any current connection to the disease. Which is not to say I think people need to get over it. I don’t think the phrase “nigger-rigged” is okay if you’re not using it literally to describe something crafted by a black person. Still, I don’t think “spaz” is generally regarded as a major insult in the U.S. and I had no idea of its original meaning until a few years back. Editing Tiger Woods’ phrase might have made sense if he’d used a really, really bad word but protecting his reputation from his own use of insensitive language seems very dubious to me. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/37 "2006-04-11T16:40:42Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > Using spaz as a noun just heightens the link to ‘spastic’ in my ears. ‘I putted like a total spastic.’ ‘He danced like a total nigger’. “It burns like a fag.” Equating the US use of “spastic” to “nigger” is, frankly, stupid. It’s like saying the British are homophobic because they call their cigarettes “fags”. No one has called cerebral palsy sufferers “spastic” in DECADES…there’s simply no cognitive connection between CP and “spastic” in most people’s minds here. It just doesn’t mean that. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/38 "2006-04-11T16:51:28Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Few will forget how he took umbrage when, after the 1997 Masters, Fuzzy Zoeller said that Woods would be serving chicken and collard greens, a typical Afro-American dish, at the 1998 champions’ dinner. If you want to call [this](http://www.texnews.com/tiger/accept042597.html) taking umbrage. From the link– > [@](#): > > Tiger Woods says he accepts Fuzzy Zoeller’s apology, although he was stunned and disappointed by the racially insensitive comments. > > “At first, I was shocked to hear that Fuzzy Zoeller made these unfortunate remarks,” Woods said Thursday in a statement released by his management agency, IMG. "His attempt at humor was out-of-bounds, and I was disappointed by it. > > “But having played golf with Fuzzy, I know he is a jokester; and I have concluded that no personal animosity toward me was intended.” Shouldn’t he be like, you know, pissed off or angry or something to take him some umbrage? As others have noted, “spaz” is a pretty mild term around here, not nearly on a par with phrases that invoke racial stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/39 "2006-04-11T17:01:29Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Equating the US use of “spastic” to “nigger” is, frankly, stupid. It’s like saying the British are homophobic because they call their cigarettes “fags”. No one has called cerebral palsy sufferers “spastic” in DECADES…there’s simply no cognitive connection between CP and “spastic” in most people’s minds here. It just doesn’t mean that. As far as I can see, **tagos** is only referring to his personal perception of the word, and is not condemning anyone in the US for using a word neither they nor any of their peers find offensive. He’s just illustrating how it appears to UK eyes, and his example is pretty apposite (although I do think “nigger” is, and always has been, a lot more offensive even in the UK). ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shape-up-us-papers-and-dont-be-spazzes/352206/40 "2006-04-11T19:11:23Z")
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