[Closed] Political correctness - am I allowed to call someone a lunatic?

Nope. It's impossible to offend me. (Except with RETARDED driving ability when I'm on me bike)

It's ok as long as you are batsh1t mental too.

Nope. It's impossible to offend me.

Ahem....

Hey, DezB, we've got a festival near here just right up your musical alleyway.

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I'd say depends on the context. Using mental health issues in derogatory ways [i]is[/i] generally a bit frowned upon these days.

Mind you I'd say [i]"emotionally retarded"[/i] is a acceptable thing to say, especially about yourself. So I may well be as out of touch as you!

so did you call yourself a 'lunatic' or 'emotionally retarded'?

[i]I'd say depends on the context. Using mental health issues in derogatory ways is generally a bit frowned upon these days.[/i]

Yeap, I seem to recall some of the supermarkets having to recall some halloween costumes, last year I think, for similar reasons.

Self deprecation, these days, also seems to be a bit of a minefield.
Probably better to leave others to slag you off.

Does the person in question actually have epilepsy or a disease of the moon? 😉

WWAsWas - I had previously called myself emotionally retarded (while recounting how I cried at the bit in the Superman film, the old Christoper Reeve version, when Louis Lane gets buried in her car while Superman is busy saving a village from being drowned), to then be told I "can't use the 'R' word".

I was now going on comment on a photo of myself taken at a recent run, pointing out how my happy, smiley face looks more like that of an escaped lunatic, but thought best to check first.

[i]Hey, DezB, we've got a festival near here just right up your musical alleyway.[/i]

Damn, if I wasn't going to my local one a few days before, I'd be there! 🙁

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Now, that's [s]retarded[/s] er retro..?

Under the rules of PC, you are permitted, nay encouraged, to call a non-PC person a lunatic.

[i]to then be told I "can't use the 'R' word"[/i]

It's one of those words that is increasingly seen as having 'connotations' and might best be avoided in polite society.

Maybe emotionally repressed would be better to describe how you behaved in any case?

I might find a different analogy for the running thing if I were you now that you have form in the inappropriate phrase sweepstake.

Does the person in question actually have epilepsy or a disease of the moon?

Is the person in question actually a potato? And can a potato really be deemed by anyone, let alone itself, to be 'great'?

"can't use the 'R' word"

Well that's just ... erm... [i]silly[/i]?

Calling someone a retard is offensive.

Calling yourself emotionally retarded isn't.

I avoid the minefield of people taking offence at my use of potentially inapropriate terminology by just calling everyone a *ing *!

Clears up any confusion 😀

Stoner - that looks less a festival, more a suicide pact

As above, Lunatic is to describe someone who is psychologically effected by the cycles of the moon. I was born in June which means I have a Cancer star sign, which is supposedly a moon sign, and have been accused of being a Lunatic many times as a result, mostly by my ex wife. She believes in all that nonsense.

Essentially the term lunatic is based in Astrology which is of course all complete pony anyway.

Therefore as the word as no real grounding in medical science there is no such thing as a lunatic so it fair game to use it.

[i]can a potato really be deemed by anyone, let alone itself, to be 'great'[/i]

I think you have to say 'rosti' not 'great' these days.

Therefore as the word as no real grounding in medical science

I think there is/was a theory that (in the days before streetlights) full moons meant more light at night which triggered sleep disorders and the conditions associated with lack of sleep.

[i] maccruiskeen - Member

Is the person in question actually a potato? And can a potato really be deemed by anyone, let alone itself, to be 'great'? [/i]

Excellent!
😆

Have you considered using this anti-retard formulation?

[img] [/img]

How is it wrong to call yourself emotionally retarded? You might well be deficient in the emotion department and they would have no idea. I would have a go at whoever got at you for being so insensitive as to assume you had sufficient control on your empathy to realise what you'd said might be upsetting.

Just use the words as you see fit and then politely ignore the lefty bed wetters.

I sometimes shout "'TARD!" at drivers who almost kill me. Politically correct? Who gives a ****.

I regularly refer to Hora as a mongtard, which is brilliant because it combines 2 suitabley apt and decriptive words. Though I'm guessing that it wouldn't pass the PC test.

Maybe [b]emotionally repressed [/b]would be better to describe how you behaved in any case?

This is a better phrase imo but doesn't have quite the same punch.

Irrespective of its PR status or not or its accuracy in my experience 'retarded' is a term mainly used by the same linguistically challenged teenagers and intellectually challenged adults that describe bad things as 'gay'. In fact they are quite often interchangeable. Up to you if you want to sound like one of those.

In the event it doesn't simply claim that it's a double insult therefore a compliment, like a double negative in grammar or maths. Or something.

Context innit?

Bloke I used to work with, recovering from a brain injury, always referred to his community centre minibus as the 'Spacker Waggon'.

Very loudly.
🙂

Just stick to wazzark.

Covers a multitude of scenarios, sounds good and is entirely inoffensive...

I do struggle with stuff like this, because I tend towards "they're just words" and if people are going to get bent out of shape because I use a deprecated term then that's them choosing to take offence rather than me intentionally causing it.

Whether you say "emotionally repressed" or "emotionally retarded" it's the same [i]meaning[/i] regardless of what word you use. "Retarded" is a perfectly cromulent word anyway, it's the opposite of "advanced." Life's too short to be pandering to this sort of, well, lunacy.

I struggle as well with the concept that insulting yourself can be offensive to others. Anyone care to tell your average rapper that they can't say "****" any more because it's racist and offensive?

Context innit?

That, I think, is a far more succinct version of what I was trying to say. Thank you.

I struggle as well with the concept that insulting yourself can be offensive to others.

Want a hand? Try using an offensive simile in a self-deprecating manner...

mongtard

'Spongle' is one of my favourites

I quite like 'Cretin' as well, especially when someone snottily asks me if I know what it means...

it's a perfectly valid term so feel free to use in self criticism

"Emotional retardation refers to slowed or stagnant development of the emotions. Several symptoms characterize this type of developmental disorder, including a lack of subtle or complex emotions and the reduced capacity or inability to experience empathetic emotions"

i guess, unless you're qualified to pass judgement on others then it would be wise not to use it when describing their mental state.

though feel free to call me whatever you like, i'm not precious (i'm kinda mental like that...)

Want a hand? Try using an offensive simile in a self-deprecating manner...

Interesting point.

I suppose by using a simile you're associating a character trait to someone else, which is actually then projecting your statement outwards rather than inwards. So, if I were to say "wow, I'm as thick as an STW forumite today" the implication is that STW forumites are thick. Ie, it's not solely a self-deprecating comment in that case.

I think.

Cougar.

Good post. (the first one)

[i] Anyone care to tell your average rapper that they can't say "****" any more because it's racist and offensive?[/i]

Ime, that word, in that context, isn't intended to be racially offensive. But rather, is employed to describe or imply a social status.

It helps if you think of "political correctness" as a sub-set of politeness.

Quite a lot of people apparently feel like they've been aggressively farted on if I say "retarded". So I don't. It's not like I'm being deprived of a vital technical word without which I can never express myself again.

As with farting, there is some company in which it is hilarious to do it. If you're in that company, fine, let it rip. But once you've been told that it is generally regarded as a bit horrid, just save it for the next time you're in the fresh air, or the loo, or your hilarious farty mate's car.

If, after letting rip a good, long, reeking trump and laughing at it at (say) your sister's wedding, someone asks you not to do it and you respond by farting some more to demonstrate that you're a free man who loves the smell of methane and won't be cowed by bourgeois notions of social respectability, it's at least possible you're being a bit of a dick.

That's how I rationalise it anyway. I am quite partial to a fairly broad range of retro terms of abuse which are probably best off in the dustbin of language really.

🙂

Am I allowed to retard the ignition on my car?

..'retarded' is a term mainly used by the same linguistically challenged teenagers and intellectually challenged adults that describe bad things as 'gay'.

I agree that it is, BUT I don't think that's a good enough reason to stop using it.

Retarded just means slowed or held back.

It would be a shame to lose a bunch of useful words (retarded, retardation, retardment, retardative, retardatory) just because some "linguistically challenged" people have adopted the noun form as an informal shorthand for "intellectually retarded" and then used that as an insult.

That's letting them win.

Consider that "Gay" is still used in a neutral/positive way, despite it also being adopted as an insult. I think that's a good thing.

[i]wow, I'm as thick as an STW forumite today[/i]

Mods - ban him/yourself!

I think this is the crux - any self deprecation is playing down your own attributes so the thing you are comparing yourself to is, automatically, seen to have a lower worth than you do.

Am I allowed to retard the ignition on my car?

You're "allowed" to. But as with "niggardly", it's perhaps best treated as collateral damage.

🙂

[i] wwaswas - Member 
wow, I'm as thick as an STW forumite todayMods - ban him/yourself![/i]

You might well be surprised, were you ever to learn of what the overlords think of and say about us mere mortals of this forum.
😉

Therefore as the word as no real grounding in medical science

Not so sure. As GrahamS said, the (possible) increase in light can affect some people. However, there's actually a fair bit of scientific research into the subject. From a very quick web search:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=872560&dopt=Abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=641019&dopt=Abstract

Furthermore, anecdotally, I've spoken with police officers who reckoned that they experienced more public order offenses during a full moon. When I used to drive a taxi, I got the impression that more folk were erratic, excitable or aggressive when the moon was large.

As for calling somebody a lunatic: it depends entirely on context/situation; but if you're going to use a term, you should always be prepared to explain it.

I think this is the crux - any self deprecation is playing down your own attributes so the thing you are comparing yourself to is, automatically, seen to have a lower worth than you do.

Not sure as I agree with "lower worth," I don't think that's the case at all. You could say, I don't know, "I'm as slow as a tortoise today"; there's absolutely no implication there that being a tortoise is inherently a bad thing, is there? But otherwise, yes, I see what you're saying.

But then, pretty much any term for mental incompetence can be reduced to a slur on people with actual mental health issues. The problem here isn't the words, it's the inference from them.

The OP wants to pass light-hearted comment on his own irrational behaviour. What word should he use? Lunatic? Crazy? Mental? Retarded? Stupid? All of these terms [i]could[/i] have connotations, if you chose to interpret them as such, because they've all been used to describe people with actual issues. What about "hysterical"? No-one would blink twice at that, and it basically implies that you're batshit because you're a woman.

Hmm. You know, I think the biggest issue I have with "PC" and people inferring meaning that was never intended by the speaker, is that we're going to start running out of words. I don't want to have to spend ten minutes deconstructing a sentence just in case someone might wilfully misinterpret it in order to be offended.

Surely, [i]surely [/i]what's important with language is communication and expressing meaning? I could communicate purely through the medium of interpretive dance so long as the point got across (though I'd probably offend a couple of Mimes in the process).

It helps if you think of "political correctness" as a sub-set of politeness.

Quite a lot of people apparently feel like they've been aggressively farted on if I say "retarded". So I don't. It's not like I'm being deprived of a vital technical word without which I can never express myself again.

As with farting, there is some company in which it is hilarious to do it. If you're in that company, fine, let it rip. But once you've been told that it is generally regarded as a bit horrid, just save it for the next time you're in the fresh air, or the loo, or your hilarious farty mate's car.

If, after letting rip a good, long, reeking trump and laughing at it at (say) your sister's wedding, someone asks you not to do it and you respond by farting some more to demonstrate that you're a free man who loves the smell of methane and won't be cowed by bourgeois notions of social respectability, it's at least possible you're being a bit of a dick.

That's how I rationalise it anyway. I am quite partial to a fairly broad range of retro terms of abuse which are probably best off in the dustbin of language really.

Very nicely put. You are definitely not a retarded wazzok mongtard spongle.

[i]What word should he use? [/i]

"I'm emotionally neural atypical"

😉