February 5, 2010
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Words I Hate (With Update)
Words have always been important to me. I think that’s apparent through my reading and writing ventures. Words are the easiest way for me to get my point across and I don’t think that words are something to be taken lightly by anyone. Words are extremely important and as with anything that is that important, you’ve gotta be careful with how you use them.
This week, President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel got in trouble for calling some of his liberal counterparts “retarded.” This is one of the words that absolutely bothers me to no end. It’s just a very rude, antiquated, and unnecessary term. He could have called them stupid, idiots, morons, assholes, dumbasses, lemmings, or some other term. Instead he chose to use a really horrible, hurtful word.
A few years ago, I was able to meet a really wonderful woman through my aunt. The whole family has become really close to both my aunt’s family and ours (her mother is actually my wedding planner now). For the past at least three or four years, we’ve had a birthday party for this woman and I’ve really learned a lot from her. She’s amazing. She’s incredibly nice and is the type of person that always remembers your birthday even if she’s only met you a few times. She has an eye for detail that constantly astounds me. She has a fabulous job in which she gets to travel all over and speak to people. It sounds awesome and it’s the type of job that some of us can only dream about (I know I certainly dream about traveling all over). She also happens to be intellectually disabled. Obviously with everything else she is doing in her life, she has never let this term define her.
I remember a few years ago, she had come over to my parents’ house for her birthday party and we were in the family room getting ready to watch a movie and J. was telling us about high school and how many of the kids were mean to her and called her retarded. She is very, very friendly and would try to talk to some of the so-called “normal” kids and they would just be really horrible to her and tease her and make fun of her and call her retarded over and over again. She thanked us profusely for being nice to her and being her friends. She’s very conscious of her intellectual disability and knows she can’t help it so it especially hurt that people made fun of her for things she couldn’t change. Anyone would be upset about being teased for who they are.
The bottom line is that people can be cruel and simple words are really powerful. We’ve gotta be more cautious about what we say.
What are some words you hate?
Edit: Wow! What a coincidence that I wrote this today; my friend made it into the Washington Post!!! It’s a pretty good article too.
Comments (21)
I can’t stand the word “moist,” not because it’s got some horribly negative connotation or is misused all the time, but it just sounds really really nasty. Ewuh.
And the obvious “that’s so gay.”
Common sense…if I could I would obliterate it from the face of the earth
For very obvious reasons, the “R” word is at the top of my list. My children have even taught their friends that the word is not to be used in our home. I also hate the word “labels”. I know that one sounds weird, but I actually had a professional tell me recently; “We can’t label Emily just yet.” To quote something I recently read; labels are for jars, not people.
retarded– definitely and also gimpy, lame, REE-REE,
slang for parts of the male anatomy– cock, dick, wang
foodie words- toothsome, mouthfeel, delish!, yummo
I don’t hate the word “gay” but I don’t like it when it is used as an insult or negative comparison.
I also hate people who can’t talk without adding the word “F*cking” between every phrase to add emphasis. such as, “last F*cking night was so F*cking cool and we totally F*cking blew that place up when that F*cking hot girl offered you a F*cking drink and a chance to tell your best F*cking joke while F*cking doing kareokee. that was F*cking awesome, man”
seriously…
I also dislike the R word. I have said it the odd time when I was really angry (not about people but about really stupid situations and such) but I really try not to use it.
I also hate slang words for body parts. Why do people have such a difficult time saying “penis” and “vagina”? I also get a tad annoyed when those two words are censored on tv (I once noticed the word “penis”bleeped out on Who’s Line Is It Anyway?). They are body parts, not foul language!
Any slur, whether it be racial, ethnic, or what have you, can be a hurtful as a fist. I would think that any words as these that are aimed at relegated people to a subhuman status should be stripped from the English lexacon. Your post is so important for anyone to heed to.
Just as some people carelessly throw potentially harmful words about, some people needlessly withhold words or encouragement and kindness. You are exactly right when you say people should be careful how they use words!
This was an awesome blog loved it & you’re right people should be careful how they use words.It’s something that I try to be more mindful of regarding myself as well
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These days, the words I hate are: conservative, liberal, socialist, politician.
I’ve come to resent faggot, and gay when used derogatively. Drama, random, lame — due to overuse. And Kool-Aid, as in “oh, they’ve drunk the Kool-Aid.” That one always makes me want to grab people and shake them.
“Whatever” really gets my blood going.
@PeriwinkleAdonis - Yeah, the “that’s so gay” bothers me to no end as well.
@youandwhosearmy - No more common sense?
@gwacemom@momaroo - Ugh, you would think that a professional would stay away from the whole “label” thing…
@wholiedtotheblind - I think I agree with you on every count
@Persiankitty - I don’t get the bleeping out of those words either. They aren’t curse words!
@zionlover - I totally agree. There’s no room for those words. They just shouldn’t be used at all.
@ItsWhatEyeKnow - I had to read a book for school called The Power of Acknowledgment. The premise was basically what the title says. It’s amazing what a bit of acknowledgment and positivity can do.
@Redshirte - Amen!
@epiginoskete - Yeah, the connotation of “drinking the kool-aid” is just so horrible. I don’t know why people still use that phrase. I think these days, a lot of people forget where the term came out of.
@ElusiveWords - I hate that as well. It’s grating!
@TheCheshireGrins - Exactly, and it’s always meant with such disrespect, with utter intellectual dismissal of opposing views, which is a pet peeve of mine.
@TheCheshireGrins - Yes…there is not such a thing…it is an abstract ideal that no one can define…and everyone thinks they know the definition of it…common sense is not common practice….
A great post, one I wholeheartedly agree with.
I also hate foul language and racial, derogatory remarks.There is far too much arguing and insulting going aroundvarious community sites. And yes, calling someone a retard or any other disability related slur is totally uncalledfor and I came across another equally disgusting word theother day that incredibly has been stated to be an OK one.Take the re from retard and replace with the short f word andyou have, what is in my opinion, an even worse term !
I’ve been trying to find the source at which I found this wordbut can’t locate it, so can’t tell you who apparently thinksthis is an acceptable way to describe someone.
Oh another term I hate: Out of the goodness of my heart.Used when reminding someone of some good deed done.
GAHHH…. question hurt brain… too many words…. melt down…. ;)
I hate the word random. Or when people use it to describe themselves. “I’m a fun, outgoing, party-loving, random kinda girl lololz! I like to be RaNdOm!!!” It just sounds so …. like a sorority girl who’s trying to hard. Besides, what the heck does that mean? You’re irregular? Perhaps aimless? I think people say “random” when they really mean “spontaneous” or “free spirited” and being a writer that really annoys the crap out of me.
Also, I’m not knocking on sorority girls – I know a lot of really wonderful women who were in sororities, but I also know a couple sort of annoying girls who were in sororities and like to describe themselves as “I’m so random lolz!”
@epiginoskete - Yeah, I think it’s much easier for people to throw out a line like that than to really be willing to listen. It’s sad.
@Chatamanda - Yes, I agree that the term you speak of is even a little bit worse. It’s completely unnecessary. With all the words and phrases in the world, one would think that they could find something a little more polite to say. Thanks for stopping by!
@sir_spamalot - LOL, sorry
@FillTheSpace - Random makes me think of statistical analysis and not people’s personalities. I’m totally with you on not liking that word. I’m not sure if you look at Lamebook at all but it’s a site that shows all these ridiculous things from different people’s facebooks. Every once in awhile, they have quotes from people’s “About Me” sections and inevitably it’s some girl talking about how she’s so “random, lolz.” People using random to describe themselves is almost as bad as people calling each other ignorant because most of the time, the word is not being used correctly!
@TheCheshireGrins - Ok, I haven’t heard of Lamebook but I’ll have to check it out. I’ve become addicted to Failbooking.com. It’s hilarious! A bit crude, but hilarious.