Words, as with anything else, have a beginning, a life span and some die natural deaths while others are murdered. The banning of words is the equivalent of book burning, even worse when it serves no legitimate purpose.
Somehow it has become "acceptable" for persons included in a group about whom an "unacceptable" term has been used, to use it, so I'll start with myself. "WOP", without papers, has been used as a slur against Italians since the 1920's. Why it was applied to Italians only is a mystery since people from all countries arrived "without papers". How could anyone be offended by something that described the condition in which they arrived here? How did it become a slur?
Current banned words referring to various nationalities,races and ethnic groups, which I won't specify, had origins and meanings quite different from what they have come to mean. Who should be the definer of these words, the user or the hearer? The accusation of being "insensitive" aimed at the user could be turned upon the hearer as being "too sensitive. Whose interests are more important?
The free speech nuts who defend all kinds of illegitimate speech from pornography to defamation of religions, don't want us to offend anyone by using language which might offend someone, but only if THEY take offense, whether any was intended or not.
All I'm trying to say is that people should lighten up about some of these words. If you sense the intent is insulting, there are probably dozens of other ways you could have been insulted, then a reaction may be all right, but the reaction should be to the insult and not to the method of insulting you. Each of us knows what race, nationality or ethnic group we belong to so if someone points that out to us, whatever the words used, we should shrug our shoulders and say, "I know".
Somehow it has become "acceptable" for persons included in a group about whom an "unacceptable" term has been used, to use it, so I'll start with myself. "WOP", without papers, has been used as a slur against Italians since the 1920's. Why it was applied to Italians only is a mystery since people from all countries arrived "without papers". How could anyone be offended by something that described the condition in which they arrived here? How did it become a slur?
Current banned words referring to various nationalities,races and ethnic groups, which I won't specify, had origins and meanings quite different from what they have come to mean. Who should be the definer of these words, the user or the hearer? The accusation of being "insensitive" aimed at the user could be turned upon the hearer as being "too sensitive. Whose interests are more important?
The free speech nuts who defend all kinds of illegitimate speech from pornography to defamation of religions, don't want us to offend anyone by using language which might offend someone, but only if THEY take offense, whether any was intended or not.
All I'm trying to say is that people should lighten up about some of these words. If you sense the intent is insulting, there are probably dozens of other ways you could have been insulted, then a reaction may be all right, but the reaction should be to the insult and not to the method of insulting you. Each of us knows what race, nationality or ethnic group we belong to so if someone points that out to us, whatever the words used, we should shrug our shoulders and say, "I know".
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