I’d like to ponder upon a subject that may cause quite a stir. Today I was speaking with a coworker relaying to her a ridiculous thing I had done (which is a common occurrence) and I almost used a word to describe myself when I stopped mid-sentence and thought, “Oh shit, maybe I shouldn’t use this word…but I’m talking about myself so it should be okay…well crap now too much time has passed and it’s awkward.” So in true Hanie form I proceeded to inaudibly trail off and walk away like a crazy person on the sidewalk...
So here is what I’ve observed about the word retarded. People get really REALLY mad when you use it. In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary retarded means “slow or limited intellectual or emotional development.” This leads me to wonder if people would be as offended if I say, “Man, that arrogant preppy dude in the bar last night was SOOOO intellectually and emotionally underdeveloped!” I would bet that most people would say, “Well then he is not worth your time girl! Way to go for walking away!!!” Similarly, it seems like my coworker would have been fine if I had just said, “Sorry about misplacing that folder. I’ve been totally limited intellectually this week.”
There is a word that over many years has been widely accepted in our lexicon. I admit to using this word countless times in a day. The word dumb in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary means, “lacking the human power of speech.” I haven’t seen many people, present day, in an uproar about the word dumb. However, I’d be willing to bet that back in the 12th century there were a great many people who were dumb or knew someone dumb that were completely offended when this word was used for derogatory name calling- even if it was not directed towards them. Now, centuries later, it’s only offensive if you are the one being called dumb unlike the word retarded which people are trying to eliminate from the English language entirely and has been banned by Congress in the federal health, education and labor laws since 2010. (http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/23/living/ann-coulter-obama-tweet/index.html)
Well, people of the world, we’ll all be dead before it will ever be okay to use the word retarded in day-to-day speak. And I’m not going to claim a side on the subject, but rather suggest a whole new word that you may use with ease and leisure. That word is dumvac. Yes, I made it up. Dum is taken from the word dumb which, as we have discussed, is PC now and vac is from the word vacuous which means, “marked by lack of ideas or intelligence.” Go ahead, say it a few times and see how it feels. Get comfortable with it. And if you’re all thinking to yourself, “Gosh this girl is such a total DUMVAC!” Well, I will be completely okay with that.
There is a word that over many years has been widely accepted in our lexicon. I admit to using this word countless times in a day. The word dumb in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary means, “lacking the human power of speech.” I haven’t seen many people, present day, in an uproar about the word dumb. However, I’d be willing to bet that back in the 12th century there were a great many people who were dumb or knew someone dumb that were completely offended when this word was used for derogatory name calling- even if it was not directed towards them. Now, centuries later, it’s only offensive if you are the one being called dumb unlike the word retarded which people are trying to eliminate from the English language entirely and has been banned by Congress in the federal health, education and labor laws since 2010. (http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/23/living/ann-coulter-obama-tweet/index.html)
Well, people of the world, we’ll all be dead before it will ever be okay to use the word retarded in day-to-day speak. And I’m not going to claim a side on the subject, but rather suggest a whole new word that you may use with ease and leisure. That word is dumvac. Yes, I made it up. Dum is taken from the word dumb which, as we have discussed, is PC now and vac is from the word vacuous which means, “marked by lack of ideas or intelligence.” Go ahead, say it a few times and see how it feels. Get comfortable with it. And if you’re all thinking to yourself, “Gosh this girl is such a total DUMVAC!” Well, I will be completely okay with that.
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