ODD FUTURE WOLF GANG KILL THEM ALL

Since you asked for my opinion, I think it ultimately depends on where the term "queer" came from (which I don't know). If it came from within non-heterosexual communities, I don't really have an opinion on it. If it came from heterosexual communities as a disparaging put-down for those who were not straight, I think it falls into the same pattern of self-oppression. Since I don't know where it came from, I tend to default towards the position that it is not my term to use and I avoid it when talking about sexuality.

In general, I don't think it's possible to reclaim a word you never owned.

What about "geek"

Hmmm. I guess I shouldn't have presupposed that you would be familiar with the (fairly complicated) history and politics of the word "queer". But let wikipedia tell it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer

Fwiw, I identify as Queer (and not as gay) myself.

or, god forbid I pull Jersey Shore out of my hat, "guido"

In general, I don't think it's possible to reclaim a word you never owned.

yeah but language is fluid, that's what's dope about it

It's been interesting in the last few months because a friend who is very feminist and works with pro-woman groups has been noticeably put off by the "slut walk" phenomenon. It's another reclaimed thing, right?

re. geeks, no one was ever denied their basic human rights because they got into an argument on the internet about whether or not greedo or han shot first.

as far as i know.

Give it time.

Kids certainly got the shit kicked out of them while called geeks or nerds as kids

but then along came the internet to show that nerds were actually meaner and more misogynistic than the jocks that beat them up

lol

clearly what we need is a geeks/nerds roots.

million geek march

huh okay, apparently I did know where "queer" came from and was just hedging against being called a know-it-all again

Ultimately it is not my business if someone wants to call themselves "queer". However, it is kind of my business if someone wants to call themselves "nigga", because that often leads people to think they can call ME "nigga", which really you can't. (I mean, you can, but basically you will be on my "fuck off, moron" list; I had endless arguments with my brother about this after he went to college in Seattle that really only resolved themselves after I graduated from college 8 years later where I had to basically say "if you wouldn't call Dad that, then don't call me that, either".)

Also, language may be fluid, and personal experience may expand your horizons and boundaries, but the two don't necessarily happen at the same time; I don't like the pervasiveness of "nigga" but I get why people use it and I enjoy it in a good amount of hip-hop, but really fuck you if you use it to refer to me. I at least have the right to object strenuously to that.

gotta say the underrated aerosmith enquirer's blind items are one of my favorite ilx guilty pleasures

Does anyone know if the word "retard" has been reclaimed?

oh my god

is that what you'd like us to call you?

xp

DJP otm. If you're saying any of these to someone and thinking it's ok, it should be because you know them. Not a bus driver.

you know, frogbs, despite my general rep as ilx cranky old man, i am actually pretty lenient, and certainly stingy with the sb's. and yet.

is that what you'd like us to call you?

only if you're reclaiming it?
I dunno, it's 2011, I would think this has happened already, but I'm not really too well versed in that culture

http://picasion.com/pic6/17e7cc34b03503b88f5791cfaa7679f8.gif

people with mental disabilities aren't a culture

oh

happy to help

she'd use

this fuckin frog

Sorry, iPhone issue

sb'ed users greet each other with "sup froggy" irl

bravo, frogbs

people with mental disabilities aren't a culture

― 5ish finkel (goole), Tuesday, August 9, 2011 6:17 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i think it's called "witch house"

you misspelled "C4lum R0bert W4ddell"

xp: huge lol

whiney :)

http://www.r-word.org/

stands for "reverb"

i sometimes am amazed at the lengths people go to gain societal permission to say offensive things

shaddup, drama kid

?

But in all seriousness, my actual stance is that I really don't care what persona these odd future people are trying to project, but I'd probably have found them obnoxious as hell on this bus and you shouldn't just throw "nigga" at people you don't know. You're either acting familiar in an obnoxious way, or you're just being insulting.

x-post I was throwing theater people in with "nerd" or "geek"

ahh that's synonymous really

:)

the language nerd in me always feels like, considering how many modern English speakers tend to speak in a dialect that drops or swallows the Rs at the end of countless words, it's kind of funny how there's just the ONE WORD that many of those people tend to think has a totally different meaning or connotation if it ends with an "a" instead of an "er," and it happens to be an extremely loaded and controversial word.

massively OTM

That would never be the case if it wasn't an el&c word. There's nothing coincidental about it.

... I believe that was some dude's point but maybe I am reading irony where none exists

my lips is like an oowop as i start to spray it

(and also, if you want to go there, the "it's okay if you say it like a black person" subtext is something else I find massively infuriating and offensive about the whole "oh it's a totally different word" argument)

oh my -- look at what I missed today! The etymology of queer!

frogbs, your insistence on reentering and getting slapped is:

a : differing in some odd way from what is usual or normal b (1) : eccentric, unconventional (2) : mildly insane : touched c : absorbed or interested to an extreme or unreasonable degree

or "queer"

just wanna flex my OG cred, I was called "queer" on the PDX streets in '85, a fair bit before it was reclaimed, but it was weird: the feeling was like "queer? really? that's, like, a word from another time, nobody says that"

it's kind of funny how there's just the ONE WORD

gangster