quasi Report This Comment
Date: May 19, 2024 12:25PM

What you do in your own life is your business but with freedom comes responsibility and insulting people who have done nothing to you or are less fortunate than you is perhaps the poorest use of freedom of speech there is. Language, the meaning and acceptability of words change over time and even in different cultures that use the same language, but if you want to remain stuck in the past and reveling in insulting people, knock yourself out.

pulse Report This Comment
Date: May 19, 2024 01:32PM

Freedom of speech doesn't equal freedom of repercussions.

I've seen the outcome of a pub fight where somebody claimed they were free to say what they wanted ("and you can't stop me" ). They were also free to be taken away in an ambulance.

Peter Puller Report This Comment
Date: May 19, 2024 04:57PM

This is inaccurate. "Gay" is freely used by homosexuals and heterosexuals and seems to be the preferred term. "Fag" is the one we're not supposed to use unless one is a fag, same as that N-word that everyone talks around.

"Retarded", I'm not sure about. "Retard" as a noun, that's been deprecated. And even then that's inaccurate because the actually mentally challenged folks do not act as bad as the people we call 'retarded' for being a dumbass. There should be some other word available that means "even more retarded than retards."

quasi Report This Comment
Date: May 19, 2024 08:28PM

I prefer "dumbass" as opposed to retarded. Gay is all about context.

pulse Report This Comment
Date: May 20, 2024 01:15AM

Gay used to mean happy, and retard means to slow.

Anon Report This Comment
Date: May 20, 2024 04:21AM

People, the differences are about culture. 'Gay' and 'retarded' were really bad words when I was growing up, and as pulse pointed out, manners can be taught kinetically. Something I've never been on the receiving end of nor needed to do (I've felt like it a few times).

woberto Report This Comment
Date: May 20, 2024 07:00AM