Different Meanings for Words

[P-p-p-penguin]

It's a very nasty and offensive way to refer to someone with a disability.

ETA: Read the section on the evolution of the term in the UK: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spastic. It explains better than I ever could.

[Judah]

It's a very nasty way to refer to someone with a disability.

I've never heard it used to refer to someone with a disability.  I've only ever heard of it used to refer to someone who is behaving in an excited, hyper-energetic way.

[hobish]

It's a very nasty way to refer to someone with a disability.

I've never heard it used to refer to someone with a disability.  I've only ever heard of it used to refer to someone who is behaving in an excited, hyper-energetic way.

Me, too, in a totally non-derogatory way, hence the surprise. "Spastic colon" keeps jumping to mind, too.

Interesting.

[P-p-p-penguin]

Seems like RingTailedLemur was right: it's usage in the UK is different to in the US.

[hobish]

Oh, i wasn't arguing that RTL is wrong! I hope it didn't come across that way! I was just commenting on the differing usage.

[P-p-p-penguin]

Not at all!

[Miss Vertigo]

There was a society in the UK called "The Spastic Society" which was founded in the 1950s to support people with cerebral palsy (it was named after "spastic cerebral palsy" which is the most common type of cerebral palsy".  The word "spastic" was then taken from the society's name and used as an insult, implying people were developmentally disabled, regardless of whether they were or not.

I remember this being particularly prevalent in the 80s around the time of the Blue Peter appeal featuring Joey Deacon, after which 'spastic' (along with 'joey') became an instant playground insult, almost the next day. Kids can be very cruel.

Ditto 'flid'. I used to work with a person who was Thalidomide affected and he said that was *the* nastiest of disability-related insults.

Handicapped is used pretty commonly here by people who just don't know that it's un-PC now.  It's often used in reference to accommodations for disabled people - I hear about the handicapped (parking) spot, or the handicapped stall, but I rarely hear about a handicapped person. 

Ah, that's interesting; although I see lots of talk about handicapped parking etc I hadn't made the distinction.

Here, they'd be referred to as 'the disabled toilet' (or 'the accessible toilet') and 'disabled parking'.

As a sidenote: it's pretty much accepted in the UK that the disabled toilet is solely for the use of disabled people; there's more of a taboo attached to an able-bodied person using a disabled toilet than there seems to be in the US. But then again, our disabled toilets aren't accessible stalls within a normal public bathroom - they're completely separate entities and you often have to ask the staff for a key to open them to prevent use by non-disabled people.

[Wonderflonium]

That set of drawers that you keep your clothes in...what does everyone call it?

I alternate between duchess and tall boy, not really sure what makes it one or the other. I always had a duchess, but a similar piece of furniture of Mum's was always referred to as a tall boy. I know some people also call it a bureau.

I call it a dresser.

[baglady]

I think the difference between the U.S. and U.K. uses of "spastic" is because in the U.K., it was traditionally used to refer to a condition (cerebral palsy) and to the people who had it (the way we might use "diabetic"). Whereas in the U.S., it's used more in describing a physical symptom of CP, not people who have it.

My friends and I used "I'm such a spaz" and "She's spazzing out" and similar expressions a lot when I was a kid. It wouldn't have occurred to me back then that it was any kind of slur against people with CP. It was an innocent usage on the level of "gyp" by someone who didn't realize it was a slur on Gypsies.

I know better now and I don't use either term. But I think the above may be the reason the S word carries more negative baggage in the U.K. than it does here.

[Miss Vertigo]

That set of drawers that you keep your clothes in...what does everyone call it?

This thing?



A chest of drawers.

[lollylegs]

Handicapped is used pretty commonly here by people who just don't know that it's un-PC now.  It's often used in reference to accommodations for disabled people - I hear about the handicapped (parking) spot, or the handicapped stall, but I rarely hear about a handicapped person. 

Ah, that's interesting; although I see lots of talk about handicapped parking etc I hadn't made the distinction.

Here, they'd be referred to as 'the disabled toilet' (or 'the accessible toilet') and 'disabled parking'.

As a sidenote: it's pretty much accepted in the UK that the disabled toilet is solely for the use of disabled people; there's more of a taboo attached to an able-bodied person using a disabled toilet than there seems to be in the US. But then again, our disabled toilets aren't accessible stalls within a normal public bathroom - they're completely separate entities and you often have to ask the staff for a key to open them to prevent use by non-disabled people.

Yep, it's the same in Australia. There was a thread on here not so long ago about an able bodied person using the disabled toilet and I was a bit 

Here, handicapped is the un-PC term for disabled (or the more PC 'person with a disability') although no one will fault you for using it. However, some people have come to use it like you'd use the word spastic, e.g. "Way to drop that thing, are you handicapped?" That one's not cool. Actually, my step brother and sister are profoundly disabled and they say that to each other all the time but, of course, I never would.

[gramma dishes]

Where I am in the U.S. the term "spastic" is considered extremely offensive.  No one would even think of using it under any circumstances.   

It was originally used to describe people with cerebral palsy, but eventually became a playground insult meaning clutzy or physically less than physically agile and progressed even further to imply additional negative things such as mental retardation.

Interestingly, 'retarded' is a legitimate educational and medical term (I think).  But the word "ret..d" used as an insult is never acceptable, ever.

[violinp]

When I was in high school, I heard my teacher talk about never letting a (then) potential child of hers have a "lovie," meaning a baby blanket. However, I'd never heard the term before in my life. Has anyone else? (Reference: I went to school in the southern US, but my teacher had been to Europe twice, so I don't know if it's a British thing or not)

[Judah]

I've often heard" lovey" used to describe any item a child uses for comforting themselves like a blanket or stuffed animal.

[Bethczar]

That set of drawers that you keep your clothes in...what does everyone call it?

This thing?



A chest of drawers.

To me, it's a dresser.