What's on your mind?

[Callid]

Interesting, I always thought it (or rather its German version version, Spast) referred to epilepsy. Then again, it had pretty much the same the effect on my opinion on its usage

[mangaluva]

Spastic specifically derives from people who have seizures, but in general to people who are mentally disabled. My primary school had a Special Ed room for some of the kids who needed a little extra attention in school. I remember some kids getting in major trouble for calling it the "Spazzy Room", and my mum giving me a long talk about how it's not okay to abuse people who are mentally ill or treat mental illness lightly. It really is a terribly rude term and it always shocks me to hear it; like I said, it ranks up with retard or mongo (derived from mongoloid, a terribly rude term for someone with Down's Syndrome).

And yeah, my friend didn't know, which I'm not going to hold against her. I do hold it against my cousin, who keeps using the word despite the fact that I've told him repeatedly why it's an abusive word that I hate.

OMM: my copy of Battle Royale arrived from Amazon! I've seen the movie and read most of the manga, but I've never read the original novel before. It's quite good. Unfortunately, my flatmate read the synopsis on the back and went "oh my god, that is such a bloody ripoff of Hunger Games!" >_>

[PT]

I should mention that as soon as you guys said it was meant to be a derogatory term, I could figure out what it referred to, just I wouldn't have reached that conclusion on my own. Awareness is definitely an issue.

The thing is there are so many things people don't know about disabilities, and while ignorance is really not an excuse for being rude, it is an explanation. Personally I think there just needs to be more awareness.

Edit: But I'm definitely not naïve enough to think that awareness would make everyone stop using derogatory terms like that. Just that it might fix a big part of the problem.

[mangaluva]

I'm not going to hold it against anyone using those terms when they genuinely don't know what they mean. Far worse is using such a word in full awareness of what it means and exactly what the implications are.

That said, sometimes ignorance can get a bit... excessive. Can anyone else remember this stooshie?

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... anned.html

[Stopwatch]

OMM: my copy of Battle Royale arrived from Amazon! I've seen the movie and read most of the manga, but I've never read the original novel before. It's quite good. Unfortunately, my flatmate read the synopsis on the back and went "oh my god, that is such a bloody ripoff of Hunger Games!" >_>

I located my copy of the novel from WHSmith, but I don't get to actually read it yet because for some reason I decided it would be a good idea for my parents to 'give' it to me as a birthday present D:.

I'm not going to hold it against anyone using those terms when they genuinely don't know what they mean. Far worse is using such a word in full awareness of what it means and exactly what the implications are.

Also this ^
(And no, I don't remember the stuff around that toy, but I've come across some articles on it before iirc)

OMM: Still putting off my homework *headdesks*
EDIT: And I still can't find any phone deals that would work for me without being ridiculously expensive... no decent phones with slide-out keyboards either D:

[mangaluva]

The novel of Battle Royale or Hunger Games? Because I'll mention now, I've read all three Hunger Games books under the impression that they were supposed to get good later. They really, really don't.

[Stopwatch]

The novel of Battle Royale or Hunger Games? Because I'll mention now, I've read all three Hunger Games books under the impression that they were supposed to get good later. They really, really don't.

Battle Royale, though I've got the Hunger Games too. I found it incredibly hard to get into the Hunger Games though, the voice was just so... boring, I guess .

[mangaluva]

The novel of Battle Royale or Hunger Games? Because I'll mention now, I've read all three Hunger Games books under the impression that they were supposed to get good later. They really, really don't.

Battle Royale, though I've got the Hunger Games too. I found it incredibly hard to get into the Hunger Games though, the voice was just so... boring, I guess .

Yeah, I think the books could have benefited from not being narrated by Katniss, because I find her an incredibly unlikeable human being. She has a terrible dose of Omnipotent Narrator, too.

[Jecka]

Last night: So I (kinda sorta) found out why we haven't visited my late, paternal grandpa's Half-brother yet...
Well, I don't know the details, but it might have something to do with my grandma trying to own the place his grave is herself, and they (the half-brother and his wife) not wanting her to do that.

Today: Churros! \o/

[KangarooGirl]

@"Spaz": I don't know how it's taken in Australia actually. I've never come across the word in all the years I've been here, and I'm not in the habit of saying it often though my understanding of it is predominantly American version. I had no idea it was such a big insult until Manga said so. I honestly didn't really feel "retard" being that serious of an insult either. I don't know, I never associated those words with the conditions??

[mangaluva]

If you're aware of their meaning, then "spaz" and "retard" are both pretty hugely offensive to people with very debilitating mental and physical conditions.

OMM: OH HOLY FECK I HAVE AN ESSAY DUE IN SIX DAYS HOW IN THE NAME OF TERRY PRATCHETT DID I FORGET THAT IT DIDN'T SEEM SUCH A BIG DEAL LAST YEAR AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH D:

[Stopwatch]

@"Spaz": I don't know how it's taken in Australia actually. I've never come across the word in all the years I've been here, and I'm not in the habit of saying it often though my understanding of it is predominantly American version. I had no idea it was such a big insult until Manga said so. I honestly didn't really feel "retard" being that serious of an insult either. I don't know, I never associated those words with the conditions??

Eh, I was pretty much going off one comment from an Aussie when I mentioned that. That's why I had the question mark and everything :x .

[Pmofmalasia]

I think what this really boils down to is a difference in meaning from the UK to the US.  I don't know anyone in the US who would say spaz to refer to someone who is disabled, from what I've gathered it sounds like they would say that person is epileptic/suffers from epileptic seizures.  This is the reason that spaz isn't seen as such a harsh insult here in the US as compared to, say, retard.  Here, some people actually would use retard to refer to disabled people in a derogative way.  So because in the US spaz has no harsher meaning, while retard does, spaz is seen as a much more casual insult here.  However, in the UK, both have the same harsh meaning, and that's why you think spaz is such a terrible insult.

I should add that I'm not trying to defend the use of the word spaz.  Now that I know what it means, I'll try to avoid using it, especially when talking to people from the UK.  I just want to help you guys in the UK understand why people from the US might use it more casually than you will, so if you're talking to anyone from the US and they say spaz, hopefully you'll understand that they're not trying to be as offensive as you think they are. 

[KangarooGirl]

If you're aware of their meaning, then "spaz" and "retard" are both pretty hugely offensive to people with very debilitating mental and physical conditions.

I guess I don't understand why it's offensive when it's not like I'm calling those people those names. It's just the way I was brought up. Again, I never say those words anyway, I'm just saying I personally don't find it as offensive as you (and the rest of the UK) obviously do.

[mangaluva]

If you're aware of their meaning, then "spaz" and "retard" are both pretty hugely offensive to people with very debilitating mental and physical conditions.

I guess I don't understand why it's offensive when it's not like I'm calling those people those names. It's just the way I was brought up. Again, I never say those words anyway, I'm just saying I personally don't find it as offensive as you (and the rest of the UK) obviously do.

I think it is just a cultural thing. I was brought up to consider those words pretty nasty, and to be honest most of the times I heard them as a kid, it was abusing the special ed kids at my primary school or bullying kids by comparing them to the special ed kids in a derogatory way. Judging by the response to the transformer "spastic", I'm not the only one who feels that way about the word XP

I dunno, I wasn't trying to get at anyone here, I was just feeling a little rattled because the word "spaz" came up in a casual way with someone I was talking to earlier and it honestly freaked me out. I'm not pissed off at her or anything, I know it doesn't mean the same thing to her that it does to me, it just surprises me that a word with such derogatory meanings has managed to migrate without taking its meaning with it.