As Aide says, no matter how diplomatically or delicately such a word or phrase is formed, it will eventually become a playground insult and will, further, become non-PC because of this. (I always thought “handicapped” was a perfectly polite and respectful word, in the sense that it is the extra weight put on certain horses to slow them down.)
A telling but hardly charming story from this side of the pond. The society for the severely mentally disabled was called the Spastic Society (an acronym I think). Thus, kids called each other a “spastic”, which became “spaz”. This became so accepted as part of everyday language that the society changed its name, to “Scope”.
And what do kids now call each other? “Scopers” or “Scopeys”.
The word ‘cretin’ derives from “Christian”. The word ‘hussy’ from “housewife”. It’s a well-worn path from acceptable term to insult.
Words change their meaning, even as a result of pressures applied by PC behaviour. You can change what people say, but ultimately this can only have a passing influence on what they think. No matter how good the intentions.
Who hasn’t heard a child being described as “special” with obvious quote marks? A PC word, but already a lost battle for its meaning in this context.
> The word ‘cretin’ derives from “Christian”. The word ‘hussy’
> from “housewife”. It’s a well-worn path from acceptable term to
> insult.
But those are terms that went along a quite different path from “bad.” “Cretin” started as an attempt to show that everyone, even those who were mentally retarded, were still children of God. Then the term “Christian” got worn down to “cretin” and devolved to meaning “barely acceptable to God” to finally meaning “pretty worthless.” “Hussy” also picked up a bad connotation because the implication was that woman trying to seduce your husband was no more than a housewife.
“Bad” went through a completely different change. It started as meaning “effeminate homosexual,” then “worthless (as a person),” and then “bad (applied to anything).” What started as an insult got worn down into meaning no more than “bad.” I can’t see how you would describe that as going from “acceptable term to insult.”
Isn't this all a bit well, over-pc? Children have always been cruel; and will always find terms to use to insult one another. Just because certain adult groups find a term offensive, doesn't mean that we ought to ban certain words. Children being the contrary little turds that they are, will just use it more anyway. Let 'em use the terms, I don't care.
I don’t know why, but this is cracking me right the hell up. Maybe all those Bother’s Grimm fairy tales where children suffer any number of horrors are a way of entertaining the adults as much as they were an attempt to instruct children about the indifference of existence?
Kids are damned contrary. The good ones, anyway. I don’t trust people that don’t swear, and I fear for any teenager that doesn’t know everything. You can’t fall if you don’t leap. Eris bless 'em.
