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Counterpunch wrote:

Seibertron wrote:Man both sides of this argument aren't doing a good job at being understanding.

Except me.

Seibertron wrote:

Wasp-shot23 wrote:Again, the point is moot, but we're not gonna get a figure called "slag" anytime soon. If hasbro paid attention to that then why not "spastic", a word which has a meaning far more clear to children than "slag" does.

I didn't realize "slag" was an offensive term to anyone, other than possibly in the fictional Beast Wars universe.

It was my understanding that they lost the trademark to the word and that the rest was "urban legend" caused by fans.

Or I could be wrong: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&clie ... n&ct=title

Wasp-shot23 wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Wasp-shot23 wrote:Again, the point is moot, but we're not gonna get a figure called "slag" anytime soon. If hasbro paid attention to that then why not "spastic", a word which has a meaning far more clear to children than "slag" does.

I didn't realize "slag" was an offensive term to anyone, other than possibly in the fictional Beast Wars universe.

It was my understanding that they lost the trademark to the word and that the rest was "urban legend" caused by fans.

Or I could be wrong: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&clie ... n&ct=title

"slag" in the UK is a term used through it's waste connotations to describe lowlife women or just any woman in a derogatory manner. E.g "how could you sleep with him, you slag!" it connotes that the woman is "dirty" or worthless. It is used in the same sense as whore.

kjeevah wrote:Seibertron - there is no 'understanding' needed. It's simple enough, I assume I don't need to re-post the quotes from American disability rights groups explaining how offensive the term is in the US.

It is not an issue of trying to forcefully export culture and language.

And also for the record 'fag' is just as offensive in the UK as in the US.

Evolution of the term in the United States
In American slang, the term "spaz" is inoffensive, as most Americans consider it casual slang for clumsiness, sometimes associated with over excitement, excessive energy, or hyperactivity. Its usage has been documented as far back as the mid 1950s. In 1965, film critic Pauline Kael, explained to her readers, "The term that American teen-agers now use as the opposite of 'tough' is 'spaz'. A spaz is a person who is courteous to teachers, plans for a career..and believes in official values. A spaz is something like what adults still call a square." The New York Times columnist similarly explained to readers that spaz meant "You're strictly from 23-skidoo." Benjamin Zimmer, an Editor for the "American Dictionary" and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's Institute for Research in Cognitive Sciences, writes that by the mid 1960s the American usage of the term spaz shifted from "its original sense of 'spastic or physically uncoordinated person' to something more like 'nerdy, weird or uncool person.'" By contrast, in a June 2005 newsletter for "American Dialect Society", Zimmer reports that the "earliest [written] occurrence of uncoordinated "spaz" (as opposed to uncool "spaz")?" is found in Elastik Band 's 1965 "undeniably tasteless garage-rock single" "Spazz".

Later in 1978, Steve Martin introduced a character Charles Knerlman, aka "Chaz the Spaz" on Saturday Night Live, in a skit with Bill Murray called "Nerds". Bill Murray later starred in the movie Meatballs which had a character named "Spaz." Both shows portrayed a spaz as a nerd or somebody uncool in a comic setting. Thus, while Blue Peter shaped the modern British understanding of the term, American viewers were being bombarded with a different image. In time, the term spaz, like its counterparts nerd and geek, lost its offensive nature and evolved into a term often used in self-deprecation.

The difference in understanding of the term between British and American audiences was highlighted by an incident with the golfer Tiger Woods; after losing the US Masters Tournament in 2006, he said, "I was so in control from tee to green, the best I've played for years... But as soon as I got on the green I was a spaz." His remarks were broadcast and drew no attention in America. But they were widely reported in England, where they caused offence and were condemned by a representative of Scope and Tanni Grey-Thompson, a prominent paralympian. On learning of the furore over his comments, Woods' representative promptly apologized.

Most Americans were surprised when they learned about the controversy. In fact, at least one American dictionary (Merriam Webster's) makes no reference to cerebral palsy in its definition or word origins. It simply defines "spaz" as a shortening of the word "spastic" and "one who is inept".

When people say 'you're such a spaz' they're talking about someone with cerebral palsy," says Nancy Salandra from Philadelphia ADAPT. "People use it all the time but they are wrong. It's part of the language now, like retard, but it doesn't make it right."

"I would think that anybody in the disability community would see it as offensive," says Babs Johnson of National ADAPT. "It would be looked upon as someone having a fit or seizure or something like that. Body movements that you're not able to control."

Counterpunch wrote:

kjeevah wrote:Seibertron - there is no 'understanding' needed. It's simple enough, I assume I don't need to re-post the quotes from American disability rights groups explaining how offensive the term is in the US.

It is not an issue of trying to forcefully export culture and language.

And also for the record 'fag' is just as offensive in the UK as in the US.

Hey, what the F' is with people in the UK trying to tell people in the US "how it is" in our country? No one is arguing that the word is offensive in the UK. Why is there so much contention that the word is offensive in the US.

It isn't.

Are we supposed to get pissy over the use of the word "lame" to describe things we don't like or find boring?

Are we supposed to get pissy over the use of the 'v' hand symbol for victory when in some countries it's as good as a middle finger?

Evolution of the term in the United States
In American slang, the term "spaz" is inoffensive, as most Americans consider it casual slang for clumsiness, sometimes associated with over excitement, excessive energy, or hyperactivity. Its usage has been documented as far back as the mid 1950s. In 1965, film critic Pauline Kael, explained to her readers, "The term that American teen-agers now use as the opposite of 'tough' is 'spaz'. A spaz is a person who is courteous to teachers, plans for a career..and believes in official values. A spaz is something like what adults still call a square." The New York Times columnist similarly explained to readers that spaz meant "You're strictly from 23-skidoo." Benjamin Zimmer, an Editor for the "American Dictionary" and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's Institute for Research in Cognitive Sciences, writes that by the mid 1960s the American usage of the term spaz shifted from "its original sense of 'spastic or physically uncoordinated person' to something more like 'nerdy, weird or uncool person.'" By contrast, in a June 2005 newsletter for "American Dialect Society", Zimmer reports that the "earliest [written] occurrence of uncoordinated "spaz" (as opposed to uncool "spaz")?" is found in Elastik Band 's 1965 "undeniably tasteless garage-rock single" "Spazz".

Later in 1978, Steve Martin introduced a character Charles Knerlman, aka "Chaz the Spaz" on Saturday Night Live, in a skit with Bill Murray called "Nerds". Bill Murray later starred in the movie Meatballs which had a character named "Spaz." Both shows portrayed a spaz as a nerd or somebody uncool in a comic setting. Thus, while Blue Peter shaped the modern British understanding of the term, American viewers were being bombarded with a different image. In time, the term spaz, like its counterparts nerd and geek, lost its offensive nature and evolved into a term often used in self-deprecation.

The difference in understanding of the term between British and American audiences was highlighted by an incident with the golfer Tiger Woods; after losing the US Masters Tournament in 2006, he said, "I was so in control from tee to green, the best I've played for years... But as soon as I got on the green I was a spaz." His remarks were broadcast and drew no attention in America. But they were widely reported in England, where they caused offence and were condemned by a representative of Scope and Tanni Grey-Thompson, a prominent paralympian. On learning of the furore over his comments, Woods' representative promptly apologized.

Most Americans were surprised when they learned about the controversy. In fact, at least one American dictionary (Merriam Webster's) makes no reference to cerebral palsy in its definition or word origins. It simply defines "spaz" as a shortening of the word "spastic" and "one who is inept".