Dear f-list: Please help me not be fucking offensive (offensiveness follows)

[brown_betty]

I'm working on not using 'lame' when I don't mean a mobility impairment, because it is offensive to people I care about. But it's hard going, both because it's an ingrained and thoughtless habit, and because I keep going, “That's lame! I mean, uh. That's. Uh

Comments

[brown_betty]

Thats a good idea, and would certainly work for both cases. (It's not as snappy, though! Ableism is so snappy! Oh, the tragicalness of not being a douche.)

[rsadelle]

I have no answers, but you totally rock for asking the question, because I've been trying to excise "lame" from my vocabulary too, and not only have I not yet gotten around to asking people about ideas for replacements, but you probably have more people reading your LJ than I do mine. An additional thing I've been thinking of when trying to come up with a replacement is that "lame" is fun to say - it has that nice long, high vowel sound, and then the m - and a good replacement should be too. The only replacement suggestion I can remember seeing is "uncool," which is, uh, uncool.

[brown_betty]

I think you're right about the sound, which is definitely a component. It has a nice anglo-saxon sound to it, which makes it almost a cuss. sinquepida suggests "bogus" which also has snap, although she rightly notes that it may be difficult to sell oneself as hip when using the lingo of the um... when did they say "bogus"?

[brown_betty]

Oh dear.

[marinarusalka]

I tend to go with "half-assed."

[brown_betty]

That would certainly cover some of the situations, yes, thank you.

[costumegoddess_]

I struggle with the same thing. I tend to substitute crap, because it still has the same flow (one syllable), and I think it still indicates that whatever thing is less than awesome.

~K~

[brown_betty]

Yeah. Derryderrydown suggests, britishly, "pants" which has very much the same flow, and general meaning. I might make a go of bringing it into Canadian English! (Single-handedly!)

[sinquepida]

I would use "bogus" for the second instance, made more effective if you say it with scathing disdain. I mean, all insults are more effective with scathing disdain, but, you know. "That's bogus, dude."

Um, also, I am unhip and stuff, so take this all with a grain of salt.

[brown_betty]

Bogus does have a nice snap to it, I think it would work for many cases!

Also, I am tragically unhip already, so this cannot effect my standing. I'm safe.