• ominouslemon@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    If people still use it that way, it should be in the dictionary. Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive

    • Mothra@mander.xyz
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      10 months ago

      This, especially since dictionaries (at least Spanish ones) have a lot of abbreviations to indicate when a term is archaic, deprecated, rude, etc. Even if nobody uses it in such way today, considering it was used not so long ago, it should remain. It’s history and evidence of the discrimination, I get that it’s offensive but erasing it from the dictionary doesn’t do anything for their cause.

      • sik0fewl@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        Here’s the definition:

        1. adj. despect. Dicho de una persona: Avariciosa o usurera. U. t. c. s.

        “despect.” is despectivo, which means “pejorative” or “derogatory”. Also, it’s the last definition given, not the first.

        • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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          10 months ago

          Fairy is a homophobic term. You may think it’s acceptable, but I’ve lived through homophobic abuse, so have many others but there is a very good reason I’m offended by the term.

          Homophobia has no place in modern society, and no amount of nihilistic sophistry will change my mind.

          I so I will be offended by you calling me a fairy, fag/faggot, shirt lifter, battyboy, fudgepacker…

          I’m two generations removed and on the wrong side of the family try to be considered jewish, but close enough that some living relatives are practicing Jews. I will also take offense at you using the word Jew and you using it in the way the post intends.

          Not because I’m a sissy fairy fag cocksucker, which I am, but because I’m big enough and ugly enough to tell you to go fuck yourself with your pseduo-intellectual circumlocution.

          You say yourself, “it’s not the word but how you use it” and then go on to use it as an epithet. There is nothing wrong with using the word fairy to describe Tinkerbell, or the mascot of absinthe, but when you proudly use it as an insult you’re being a hypocrite, you are using it exactly in an offensive way.

            • barsoap@lemm.ee
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              10 months ago

              German gays call use the term “Tunte” quite a bit, somewhere in between “faggot” and “fruit”. And yes they mean it as an insult – not for being gay, but for sticking out your little finger when drinking prosecco, approximately. The polar opposite of flannel shirt.

            • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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              10 months ago

              I am one of the dozens of people in the world who wasn’t educated in America, so you know what they say about assuming.

              Your first paragraph repeats my point so I’m glad we agree, and your second paragraph also mostly agrees with me. What I would say you haven’t understood is that you said you call people fairies, and indeed “r/tards”, in an offensive manner and demand we’re not offended. You can’t police other people’s reactions. What’s the difference from saying “ah yes, but when I rob a bank it shouldn’t be illegal because I’m special!”

              I see your point - again - about how it’s the usage - yes, but I’ll say, also again, that my issue is with your usage.

              It’s ironic you would complain about my education and accuse me of missing the point when it’s your comprehension that’s at issue here.

              Finally, I’d like you to explain how “r/tard” can be used in a non-offensice context.

              • Cabrio@lemmy.world
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                10 months ago

                Yeah, plenty of uneducated people outside of America too.

                you said you call people fairies

                There is a world of nuance between “do” and “can”, when you figure that out go back and look at which word I used, that’ll be your first lesson in nuance. For the record I said "there is a reason I can insult people using (inoffensive words), feel free to replace “I can” with “you can” or “we can”, it was an objective statement.

                and indeed “r/tards”, in an offensive manner and demand we’re not offended.

                retarded /rɪˈtɑːdɪd/ adjective

                less advanced in mental, physical, or social development than is usual for one's age.
                

                I didn’t call you a retard, I said your education has been retarded. Look to the definition above, this is your second lesson in nuance. If you are offended by objective classification of your lack of education then you are probably retarded, and if you’re offended by that statement, well, that’s a literacy issue.

                You can’t police other people’s reactions. What’s the difference from saying “ah yes, but when I rob a bank it shouldn’t be illegal because I’m special”

                Why do you choose to be offended by things that aren’t offensive?

                The word cunt is just a word, four letters, can’t hurt anyone. Now if I call you a cunt, be offended. But don’t be offended because we’re talking about the word cunt, that makes you retarded (see above).

                I see your point - again - about how it’s the usage - yes, but I’ll say, also again, that my issue is with your usage.

                No, your problem is that you can’t separate the word itself from it’s definitions, and get offended when it’s being used even outside the context of creating offence. Are you offended by the word potato? Then why do you get upset when I talk about the word potato and it’s usage? You don’t? Replace potato with retard, yes you did.

                It’s ironic you would complain about my education and accuse me of missing the point when it’s your comprehension that’s at issue here

                99% of reading is comprehension, there’s a reason the only confused and emotional party is on your side of the fence. I wish there was an easier way to tell you that your education isn’t as crash hot as you think it is, that it’s been retarded by some factor that means you haven’t acquired all the tools necessary for adequate comprehension.

                I also understand it’s not likely your fault and I’d rather impart comprehension through persistence than give up hope that one day you’ll have a proper grasp of the language you speak.

                Finally, I’d like you to explain how “r/tard” can be used in a non-offensice context.

                You did it right there. But you didn’t even notice. See we can talk about the word retard, we can talk about it’s definitions, it’s historical medical usage, we can say and use retard in a plethora of situations that are objectively not offensive.

                Me telling you that your education has been retarded is not offensive, it’s a statement of fact that your education has been found lacking, you might be offended, but that would be due to being emotionally retarded and taking offence to objective reality and a word that you have emotionally charged yourself.

                You’d be just as offended if I told you you were just uneducated, the offence has nothing to do with the word retard beyond what you have chosen to associate with the word. Again, that is statement of fact that applies to anyone, not just you.

                There’s plenty of retarded people (emotionally and intellectually underdeveloped), none of which have any relation to congenital disease outside of their control, the original source of offence to the word retard.

                I can extrapolate further if you still need help grasping an understanding, but suffice it to say if you are offended by the word retard then you are retarded. Let me help un-retard your education and teach you to not be offended by an offence born out of illiteracy.

              • 🇰 🔵 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
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                10 months ago

                Finally, I’d like you to explain how “r/tard” can be used in a non-offensice context.

                “This new extinguisher excells at retarding a fire.”

                “The silencer retarded the sound of the firearm.”

                Its pretty damn easy to use words inoffensively if you know the definition of them. Retarded isn’t just a description of the mentally handicapped; it means to be held back, slowed down, or restrained.

          • Cabrio@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Yes. We can talk about racial slurs without directing them at anyone. We can talk about the history and origin or racial slurs like spic and wog and (dare I say it in the hopes that people actually understand my point) removed. (edit: Lol, fuck censorship, but this helps prove my point below because you don’t even need to see the word but you know what it was and what it represents due to context)

            We can talk about these words, the concepts and hate they represent, the pain they are meant to inflict and all of that context without being offensive or using those words in an offensive manner.

            Here’s a little secret to offensive words, you can make any word offensive because as stated in my previous comment, it’s not the word itself that’s offensive it’s the intent it’s used with.

            Fairy princess is offensive if it’s used to derogatively represent someone, and endearing when your 3 year old daughter wants to be one. Does that mean ‘fairy princess’ is a slur? Yes, but only when it’s used that way.

            The difference that racial slurs have over other offensive language is that they are specifically created words for being derogative, unlike other derogative speech which reappropriates existing words and medical terms as insulting metaphor. But even then you can talk about racial slurs without being offensive as previously explained. Like we’re doing right now.

            Ask yourself, is there anything in this comment you find “offensive”? Or maybe offensive words just make you uncomfortable. I’m comfortable around offensive language because I understand it and can recognise the difference between objective use of language and directed insults.

            • CantSt0pPoppin@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              The word is ugly with and without the “a”. It is a word that was used to terrorize enslaved people and is still used to this day to dehumanize black people. Anyone especially black people should not be using that word.

              • 🇰 🔵 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
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                10 months ago

                It’s still a word like any other. How it is used is what matters, not the word itself; and saying black people should also not use that word is pretty racist, unless you’re also black…

                Also looking at the decimation of the comments in here, the mods and users are overly sensitive over words. Fucking pathetic.

  • azvasKvklenko@sh.itjust.works
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    10 months ago

    It’s like in Polish - the word “żyd” (jew) has negative connotations, and maybe it becomes rare in usage these days, but the negative meaning sticks. It’s still an offense to call somebody that.

    We have more words like this (cygan, rumun) that on its own are official words for etnicity or nationality, but carry some negative meaning. We also have dedicated words to call many different groups in offensive ways.

    However languages happen organically and they reflect how people speak, not the other way that there’s some sort of entity that dictates how the entire population should speak (although reformations are possible).

    Funny how people try to regulate that by law. We had such case in Polish when few years ago feminists tried to change how we call professions that are typically assigned with men, but some women are also performing them (police officer, firefigter, ministry etc). Some of those forms didn’t make sense completely due to semantics, some were dropped from the language decades ago and sound archaic or unnatural, the lobby lead to memes at the very most.

    • AstridWipenaugh@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      That movement worked though. You wrote police officer and firefighter instead of policeman and fireman.

      • Cabrio@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Fireman and policeman in English are also not offensive because they aren’t referring to gender or sex.

        Human - Group
        Humans - Collective Individuals
        Man - Individual
        Men - Collective Individuals (Non-sexed)

        Not to be conflated with

        Men - Collective (Sex Male)
        Women - Collective (Sex Female)
        Wo - Female, men - collective individuals (non-sexed).

        Keep in mind these are all traditional definitions and were constructed before sex and gender were determined to be separate and before intersex was a classification.

        We now often conflate those in common English with human and man and person being interchangeable. As man (individual) with man (sex). And many others conflate sex and gender.

        Firefighters - Group
        Fireman - Firefighting Individual
        Firemen - Firefighting Collective (Non-sexed)

        Police - Group
        Policeman - Policing Individual
        Policemen - Policing Collective (Non-sexed)

        The arguments for removing gender from professions is based on the misapprehension that the professions were ever related to gender and as a result mass illiteracy has made it an “issue”.

  • Badass_panda@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I’m saddened to hear that there are still an appreciable amount of Spanish people talking about us that way, but I’m not upset at the dictionary for recording the way the language is used.

    I’m guessing it’s approached in something of a similar way to how English language dictionaries handle the word gyp, which is to give its definition and note that it is offensive.

    • cosmic_skillet@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      Exactly, dictionary definitions are descriptive, not prescriptive. They describe how words are used, not prescribe how they should be used.

  • bobman@unilem.org
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    10 months ago

    Definition of Zionist: right-wing scumbag who believes religion should dictate where people live, regardless of who suffers as a result.

    I don’t mind Jews, but I hate zionists because they are all religious nationalists by definition.

        • Fisk400@feddit.nu
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          10 months ago

          I know. I also know he can’t say that because they are all whiny little cowards.

      • ansik@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        One really has to be deep into antisemitism to think that’s a relevant point to make in a discussion on how the word Jew is defined in Spain.

        • SuddenDownpour@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Israel =/= Judaism

          There are Jews who don’t like the government of Israel, and Israelis critical of their own country.

      • bobman@unilem.org
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        10 months ago

        See my other comment on the matter.

        Are you just upset I’m calling out zionism for what it is? I think so, but you’re going to try to lie and make it seem about something else.

        • Fisk400@feddit.nu
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          10 months ago

          I am asking why you are talking about Zionism on a post that isn’t about Zionism. If you do not think all Jews and Zionists are the same then why are you bringing it up here and now?

            • Fisk400@feddit.nu
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              10 months ago

              You have no other comments on this post. Have you made comments somewhere else about this specific post and how it’s relevant to Zionism?

              • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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                10 months ago

                I think they’re referring to “I don’t mind Jews.” It’s about as convincing as “I’m not racist but…”