Lame.

[redindigo]

Not totally Fatshionable, but related to Fatshionista nonetheless…

As I was skimming the LJ this afternoon, playing catch up, I stumbled upon a potentially "political" post, wherein there were five instances where the word LAME was used…in a potentially offensive manner. I made a generic comment in response to each of these folks, but this post

Comments

[hobbledehoy]

i think whenever i don't like anything, i'm going to begin calling it obese. because obese means bad, right? just like lame does, and retarded! awesome, i mean, straight. fan-fucking-tastic.

that was irony, kittens.

[hobbledehoy]

(she was fat because she was lame and didn't get enough exercise?)

[slickgothgurl]

no, she's obese because she had obese eating habits. she liked obese foods. they were the tastiest.

[hobbledehoy]

NOM NOM NOM

[haywagonsmom]

I think that you cannot compare the weight of words like gay and retard which yes have alternate meanings and definitions yet they are still used inappropriatley with words like lame

[wistfuljen]

fabulous point. I totally agree with you.

[theoryofgravity]

Simply put, I try to avoid use of the word "lame" because I know a good number of folks who are offended by it. Personally, I can see both sides of the argument, but to me, it's worth watching my word choice to avoid annoying or upsetting someone I care about, or even a stranger, for that matter. It's a minor sacrifice and not using one particular word is hardly something I'm going to cry myself to sleep about at night.

[atwistedstring]

Thank you - IAWTC.

OP, you gave a perfectly good list of alternative words to use instead of "lame." I suggest people start expanding their vocab.

[redindigo]

EXACTLY. Thank you. :)

[kimbahlee]

agreed.

[zcme]

i totally agree and thank you for posting this. that was a word that took me a while to remove from my own personal lexicon but i felt it important to do so. my personal substitute for what i used that term to mean is 'loserish' which no, doesn't roll off the tongue as easily but gets at what i want to say w/o having abelish implications (as far as i know). anyway, again thanks for bringing this up.

[redindigo]

Not a problem. It was really hard for me to remove from my vocabulary at first...I even went on a mission to get my student assistants to stop saying it. They'd say it when they thought I wasn't around, and then apologize to me when I caught them. I had to tell them that if they were changing their vocabulary just so I didn't get angry, then they didn't understand the essence of what I was saying. THEN it finally made sense to, well, most of them. :)

[queen_bbb]

I think we should bring back the word "P-Shaw".

[zaftigvegan]

usually it's got something to do with ego.

[meestagoat]

Your boss's statement points to exactly what baffles me in people's kneejerk NO IT ISN'T BAD reactions to this kind of request. Why are people so invested in offending others?

[zaftigvegan]

well obviously because if you get your feelings hurt or feel offended it means you have low self-esteem and need to toughen up. :p