Jack_Cade wrote:The only difference between the UK and the US is that we've cottoned onto the fact that it's a word charged with hate and discrimination, while US peeps apparently think it's OK so long as you use it in a light-hearted fashion. Sure, go ahead and keep using it as long as you think it's OK that your actions contribute towards people feeling excluded, depressed and sometimes even suicidal. Pretend it's their problem and not yours.
So to be clear, I'm not personally 'offended' when I hear someone call someone else a spastic; I just think "What an utter prick."
Caelus wrote:Jack_Cade wrote:The only difference between the UK and the US is that we've cottoned onto the fact that it's a word charged with hate and discrimination, while US peeps apparently think it's OK so long as you use it in a light-hearted fashion. Sure, go ahead and keep using it as long as you think it's OK that your actions contribute towards people feeling excluded, depressed and sometimes even suicidal. Pretend it's their problem and not yours.
So to be clear, I'm not personally 'offended' when I hear someone call someone else a spastic; I just think "What an utter prick."
I think this is the implied attitude that has a lot of Americans offended in this thread.
It's upsetting to have people come our of left-field and derogate you for doing something you've done for years, having had no reason to believe it was wrong.
The reaction to that sort of dissonance is naturally going to be... ugly.
Edit: Also, Dragstrip? Not the most 'family-friendly' word ever. Not surprised they were trying to get away from it.
Caelus wrote:Edit: Also, Dragstrip? Not the most 'family-friendly' word ever. Not surprised they were trying to get away from it.
MYoung23 wrote:As an African American I can tell that the N-word has always been a demeaning and insulting term. It was never neutral even though it was a corruption of the word Negro.
The fact that people here had to go to wikipedia and didn't know this is a damn shame.
Caelus wrote:Edit: Also, Dragstrip? Not the most 'family-friendly' word ever. Not surprised they were trying to get away from it.
Counterpunch wrote:
But I do think that "Dragstrip" is a perfectly acceptable term. I mean, that IS the word used for the place where drag racing occurs.
MYoung23 wrote:As an African American I can tell that the N-word has always been a demeaning and insulting term. It was never neutral even though it was a corruption of the word Negro.
kjeevah wrote:And for those of you who mistakenly believe that this is only a UK term, ADAPT is an american disability rights organisation: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."
Rated X wrote:This is so RETARTED !!! And I said retarted on purpose because I want to make a point. When I use the word "retarted" I am not trying to insult children with special needs. I am simply using it as a figure of speech that means "STUPID" !!! Can we please stop being so damn politically correct ??? Ever since Janet Jackson had her "wardrobe malfunction" at the Superbowl (which I enjoyed) their has been a outcry for censorship. This is almost as dumb as the HA Jazz package complaint that it promotes alcohol and gambling.
Rated X wrote:This is so RETARTED !!! And I said retarted on purpose because I want to make a point. When I use the word "retarted" I am not trying to insult children with special needs. I am simply using it as a figure of speech that means "STUPID" !!! Can we please stop being so damn politically correct ??? Ever since Janet Jackson had her "wardrobe malfunction" at the Superbowl (which I enjoyed) their has been a outcry for censorship. This is almost as dumb as the HA Jazz package complaint that it promotes alcohol and gambling.
Rated X wrote:This is so RETARTED !!! And I said retarted on purpose because I want to make a point. When I use the word "retarted" I am not trying to insult children with special needs. I am simply using it as a figure of speech that means "STUPID" !!! Can we please stop being so damn politically correct ??? Ever since Janet Jackson had her "wardrobe malfunction" at the Superbowl (which I enjoyed) their has been a outcry for censorship. This is almost as dumb as the HA Jazz package complaint that it promotes alcohol and gambling.
Razorclaw0000 wrote:Or Lockdown to former convicts? Or Highbrow to people with large foreheads? Or Erector to people with ED? Or Windbreaker to people with irritable bowel syndrome?
Shall I go on?
leokearon wrote:Does this mean that the PCC Stunticons wouldn't be released over here at all, or just not with the offensive name
People wrote:zombybunnie: N_V scares me...I no longer wish that my pants transformed
Burn:Anyone notice how much of a boring party pooper N_V is? He doesn't join in the fun, he's spent the last few years with dodgy builds feeding XP to the Autobots, and he sure as heck doesn't spam.
disruptor96: I forgot how insane you were.
kjeevah wrote:Rated X wrote:This is so RETARTED !!! And I said retarted on purpose because I want to make a point. When I use the word "retarted" I am not trying to insult children with special needs. I am simply using it as a figure of speech that means "STUPID" !!! Can we please stop being so damn politically correct ??? Ever since Janet Jackson had her "wardrobe malfunction" at the Superbowl (which I enjoyed) their has been a outcry for censorship. This is almost as dumb as the HA Jazz package complaint that it promotes alcohol and gambling.
Seibertron wrote:Man both sides of this argument aren't doing a good job at being understanding.
As I already said, usage of the word "spastic" in the UK is comparable to usage of the word "fag" here in the States. "spastic", while it originated as a medical term, took on a different meaning here in the US which is more comparable to dork or geek, generally implying clumsiness or "bouncing off the walls" (perhaps hyperactivity) or even "overreacting".
The US people should acknowledge that it is an offensive word in the UK just as the UK people should acknowledge that the word means something different in our countries and shouldn't take offense to our cultural differences. It is an offensive word to the UK folks despite that it means something totally different here in the States, a company selling a product in the UK should be aware of this and sensitive to the local cultures either by having a character with a name that doesn't offend in other countries or by having the character named differently in other countries.
Do the UK people here feel that they should stop calling cigarettes "fags" because it's an offensive or politically incorrect term in the US?
Wikipedia.org wrote:Originally confined to the United States,[8] the use of the words "fag" and "****" as epithets for gay men has spread elsewhere in the English-speaking world, but the extent to which they are used in this sense has varied outside the context of imported US popular culture. The words "queer", "homo", and "poof" are all still in common use in the UK, and some other countries, as pejorative terms for gay men. The words "fag" and "****", moreover, still have other meanings in the British Isles and other Commonwealth societies. In particular, "****" is still used to refer to a kind of meatball, and "fag" is common as a slang word for "cigarette".
Use of fag and **** as the term for an effeminate man has become understood as an Americanism in British English, primarily due to entertainment media use in films and television series imported from the United States. When Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews was overheard supposedly using the word in a bad-tempered informal exchange with a straight colleague in the House of Commons lobby in November 2005, it was considered to be homophobic abuse.[14][15]
Seibertron wrote:To further illustrate to the UK folks how the word "spastic" has taken on a different meaning in the US, here's some text from Wikipedia regarding the word **** (a kind of meatball) and fags (slang for "cigarette") in the UK:Originally confined to the United States,[8] the use of the words "fag" and "****" as epithets for gay men has spread elsewhere in the English-speaking world, but the extent to which they are used in this sense has varied outside the context of imported US popular culture. The words "queer", "homo", and "poof" are all still in common use in the UK, and some other countries, as pejorative terms for gay men. The words "fag" and "****", moreover, still have other meanings in the British Isles and other Commonwealth societies. In particular, "****" is still used to refer to a kind of meatball, and "fag" is common as a slang word for "cigarette".
Use of fag and **** as the term for an effeminate man has become understood as an Americanism in British English, primarily due to entertainment media use in films and television series imported from the United States. When Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews was overheard supposedly using the word in a bad-tempered informal exchange with a straight colleague in the House of Commons lobby in November 2005, it was considered to be homophobic abuse.[14][15]
Wasp-shot23 wrote:that's a very good point. But something called "fag" isn't going to be on sale to children.
Seibertron wrote:Man both sides of this argument aren't doing a good job at being understanding.
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.
Seibertron wrote:Man both sides of this argument aren't doing a good job at being understanding.
As I already said, usage of the word "spastic" in the UK is comparable to usage of the word "fag" here in the States. "spastic", while it originated as a medical term, took on a different meaning here in the US which is more comparable to dork or geek, generally implying clumsiness or "bouncing off the walls" (perhaps hyperactivity) or even "overreacting".
The US people should acknowledge that it is an offensive word in the UK just as the UK people should acknowledge that the word means something different in our countries and shouldn't take offense to our cultural differences. It is an offensive word to the UK folks despite that it means something totally different here in the States, a company selling a product in the UK should be aware of this and sensitive to the local cultures either by having a character with a name that doesn't offend in other countries or by having the character named differently in other countries.
Do the UK people here feel that they should stop calling cigarettes "fags" because it's an offensive or politically incorrect term in the US?
Return to Transformers Toys Discussion
Registered users: Asepticon, Bing [Bot], Dark Starscream, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], Majestic-12 [Bot], Nemesis Primal