I Had A Random Thought...

[undermind9]

oh, i will adjust the mandatory part of that. i figured postal codes was going to be pretty universal way of tracking people w/o actual locations

 

**All fixed, no more Beverly Hills for you

[Zeusthecat]

That is so awesome! Thanks for setting that up.

[Zeusthecat]

One more request undermind9, do you mind creating a new thread for this with the necessary links in the first post so it doesn't end up just getting buried in this thread?

 

And that topic should totally be pinned.

[SuperBiasedMan]

oh, i will adjust the mandatory part of that. i figured postal codes was going to be pretty universal way of tracking people w/o actual locations

 

**All fixed, no more Beverly Hills for you

 

This is a recurring thing that us from Ireland must deal with.

(or at least, I had to until I moved to Dublin)

[JonCole]

Nothing like waking up and seeing our good ol' pal TB raise Islamophobic "man of the common people" hell - http://sfy.co/e09B2

 

Why do reasonable people follow this guy any more?

[clyde]

I wonder how Ucantalas is doing.

[Zeusthecat]

Me too. I was just thinking about him the other day. Ucantalas is a rad dude.

[tegan]

So I had a crazy thought earlier.

 

What if Daft Punk are the Batman of the music world?

 

Like, they've been performing for more than twenty years, they change up their style all the time, and they're only ever seen with their helmets on. What if the Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter are just stage names that were passed down and the originals retired long ago? Like what if Harder Better Faster Stronger was a Bruce Wayne song, but Get Lucky was Terry McGinnis?

 

It's probably not the case at the moment, but I hope that they just secretly pass down the mantle at some point in the future and effectively become immortal.

[Merus]

I think we'd immediately be able to tell, to be honest.

[Zeusthecat]

Why is it considered offensive to use the term 'retarded' to describe something but it is not considered offensive to use the term 'lame' to describe something? Both are terms that can be used to describe a person with disabilities and both also have alternate uses that apply more broadly (retard - delay or hold back in terms of progress; lame - unconvincingly feeble).

 

I kind of feel like 'lame' should be the more offensive word when you look at how it is used. It seems like the term 'retarded' is actually more often used in an accurate context by its alternate definition than the term 'lame' is.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Why is it considered offensive to use the term 'retarded' to describe something but it is not considered offensive to use the term 'lame' to describe something? Both are terms that can be used to describe a person with disabilities and both also have alternate uses that apply more broadly (retard - delay or hold back in terms of progress; lame - unconvincingly feeble).

 

I kind of feel like 'lame' should be the more offensive word when you look at how it is used. It seems like the term 'retarded' is actually more often used in an accurate context by its alternate definition than the term 'lame' is.

I know lots of people who find 'lame' as offensive as 'retarded.' I also know lots of people who don't find 'retarded' offensive. It just depends on the people you know.

[Zeusthecat]

Interesting. I was unaware that some people found the term 'lame' offensive.

[Gormongous]

Why is it considered offensive to use the term 'retarded' to describe something but it is not considered offensive to use the term 'lame' to describe something? Both are terms that can be used to describe a person with disabilities and both also have alternate uses that apply more broadly (retard - delay or hold back in terms of progress; lame - unconvincingly feeble).

 

I kind of feel like 'lame' should be the more offensive word when you look at how it is used. It seems like the term 'retarded' is actually more often used in an accurate context by its alternate definition than the term 'lame' is.

I know lots of people who find 'lame' as offensive as 'retarded.' I also know lots of people who don't find 'retarded' offensive. It just depends on the people you know.

 

I've decided for a while, with the help of many others, that "lame" is offensive, but I'm having such difficulty cutting it from my speech. It's a fun word to say and seems innocuous, so it's gotten under my skin in a way that I'm having trouble removing completely. Replacing it with something like "dumb" feels like I'm just trading a problematic word for a slightly less but still problematic word, too.

[Zeusthecat]

I'm in the same boat with the term 'retarded'. Obviously I am very careful with who I use it around but it is a fun sounding word that tickles me in a way other words don't. It kind of makes me feel like a bad person but there are just some words I don't want to let go of. I figure as long as I only use them around people that I know won't be offended and that know I am not using them maliciously, there's no harm right.

I think I recall us having this exact conversation in this exact thread a while back.

[Gormongous]

I'm in the same boat with the term 'retarded'. Obviously I am very careful with who I use it around but it is a fun sounding word that tickles me in a way other words don't. It kind of makes me feel like a bad person but there are just some words I don't want to let go of. I figure as long as I only use them around people that I know won't be offended and that know I am not using them maliciously, there's no harm right.

I think I recall us having this exact conversation in this exact thread a while back.

 

Yeah, like a year ago, and I still find myself calling stuff "lame" and then immediately going "Shit!" in my head. Old dogs and new tricks, etc.

[Merus]

Yeah, 'lame' and 'retarded' both have the same problem and I forget the word but you know what it is. 'Lame' was pretty easy to cut out, 'retarded' was more difficult because of that je ne sais quoi, which, yeah, does come from prejudice against mental disabilities. The meaning that it's evolved into, 'wilfully ignorant (to the point where you resemble someone who has an actual disability)', is very close to 'fuckwitted' so I realised I could use that instead, with 'lackwitted' for polite company. Far as I can tell, this isn't a slur, and is actually a little better because it sounds a little archaic and is a little more precise: you're not saying their faculties are neurodivergent, you're saying that they're not inclined to use them.

[Griddlelol]

I cut out both "lame" and "retarded" without even meaning to. Glad I did, although I still say "dumb" which is probably offensive to, well...dumb people, but most people just see it as a rather kiddie insult. I tend to use "doofus" more than anything, just because it's incredibly fun to say. 

 

Weird that "stupid" and "idiot" aren't considered ableist. Since, they are. Apparently having lower than average intelligence is something you're allowed  to make fun of.

 

Edit: When I'm drunk I use the word "cunt" a lot. Which I'm told is incredibly offensive to some people, but I grew up with adults who'd say it every other word. 

[Gormongous]

I cut out both "lame" and "retarded" without even meaning to. Glad I did, although I still say "dumb" which is probably offensive to, well...dumb people, but most people just see it as a rather kiddie insult. I tend to use "doofus" more than anything, just because it's incredibly fun to say.

 

I mean, "dumb" also refers to people who are mute and/or deaf, although it's hardly remembered in that meaning except through stock phrases. I'm also not sure why "stupid" and "idiot" are okay, either, because discrimination by intelligence is ableism, albeit an ableism that's still functionally necessary in some areas of society.

 

One of my favorite things is that "idiot" comes from the Greek word idiotes, meaning "layperson" in practice but literally meaning "someone who does not participate in public life," as in someone who isn't a functioning part of the community and therefore contributes nothing. The Greeks, or at least the Athenians, valued their civil society so much that to abstain from it was to reveal yourself to be worthless and stupid.

[Griddlelol]

I mean, "dumb" also refers to people who are mute and/or deaf, although it's hardly remembered in that meaning except through stock phrases. I'm also not sure why "stupid" and "idiot" are okay, either, because discrimination by intelligence is ableism, albeit an ableism that's still functionally necessary in some areas of society.

 

One of my favorite things is that "idiot" comes from the Greek word idiotes, meaning "layperson" in practice but literally meaning "someone who does not participate in public life," as in someone who isn't a functioning part of the community and therefore contributes nothing. The Greeks, or at least the Athenians, valued their civil society so much that to abstain from it was to reveal yourself to be worthless and stupid.

 

Oh, I know that it's used for people who are unable to speak, but it's strange that it hasn't received the same backlash as "retarded" has. It's still ableist, but maybe it's because it's used by young children as opposed to young adults and teens. 

 

Well ableism is functionally necessary in many areas, not just intellectual capacity. You can't have a deaf person answering phones, or a person confined to a wheelchair working on a construction site. 

 

That's a pretty cool reason to use idiot. I like.

[eot]

I cut out both "lame" and "retarded" without even meaning to. Glad I did, although I still say "dumb" which is probably offensive to, well...dumb people, but most people just see it as a rather kiddie insult. I tend to use "doofus" more than anything, just because it's incredibly fun to say. 

 

Weird that "stupid" and "idiot" aren't considered ableist. Since, they are. Apparently having lower than average intelligence is something you're allowed  to make fun of.

 

Edit: When I'm drunk I use the word "cunt" a lot. Which I'm told is incredibly offensive to some people, but I grew up with adults who'd say it every other word. 

Every British person I know says "cunt" a lot when they're drunk

[tegan]

On the subject of the R word, I personally don't use it because I don't particularly enjoy hurting people. Just the same, I feel like I'm just treating the symptom and not the disease. It's weird to look back at now, but when I was a little kid, it was considered the "opinionated in a way that is different from me" term to use until it was adopted by kids my age as an insult. Then the same thing happened to "special" as in "special needs."  If you go back further, words like "imbecile," "idiot," and "moron" used to be valid medical terms. I feel like there should be more effort to change public perception of people with learning disabilities.

[SuperBiasedMan]

How do you find shoes that will actually last? I've mostly only bought relatively cheap ones (ie. €20/$30ish) before and predictably I destroy them after about 4 months. It is partly my fault, I seem to be hard on shoes, constantly walking everywhere and usually having just the one pair. But now that I wanna get a non cheap pair I have no idea how to sort out flimsy expensive shoes from ones that earn their price in lifespan.

It also doesn't help that I don't get leather ones. Maybe I should go back to wearing bread bags on my feet.

[Griddlelol]

I'd like to know that too. I destroy shoes and I don't know why. It's probably because I wear them every day to do everything, but that just makes me think that shoes are built badly.

[SuperBiasedMan]

Do you also have wide feet? I have to assume that's been a part of my struggle, and not just because it means most shoes don't fit me.

[Blambo]

Anybody have examples of stories in games, books, films, TV shows etc that effectively use coincidences to drive a plot forward in a way that doesn't feel contrived? I see them in Coen films a lot and they usually seem to be done for the purpose of comedy or to show some theme about fate or chaos. Cowboy Bebop does it a lot too, but in that instance it constantly feels artificial and convenient.