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There is a campaign out there to end the R-word.
And I’m on board, that is, as long as we can also remove the following words while we’re at it:
And probably a few others I can’t quite think of at the moment because I’m blogging in the wee-small-hours-of-the-morning. (Thank you, Caffeine Which I Drank Too Late At Night.)
Have you ever seen a situation in which two people, equally inept, try to accomplish a goal outside their skill-set? Have you ever said, after the fact, that it was like the blind leading the blind?
Well, then, surely you hate blind people and have no respect for those lacking in sight. Clearly, the ease with which you mock them is indicative of a blackened heart, smoldering over a soul already burning with the flames of Hell itself.
Or maybe, you were simply speaking metaphorically with regard to suitable candidates for guidance? Maybe, you have a deep abiding respect for people who go through the world at a disadvantage, and are awed by their ability to face adversity.
This is part of the Euphemism Treadmill. Unpleasant things or concepts become unpleasant words and eventually we decide that we, as humans, will use language to “clean them up a bit” for polite use.
You know, it’s the old Eliza Doolittle routine. We’ll make that flower girl into a proper lady, yet, Colonel Pickering.
But this isn’t a musical. People don’t randomly break out into song or take up a new leaf at the drop of a gaudy hat. In the real world, Eliza always reverts, tells Professor Higgins that the whole project was a load of cobblers and she was happier pub crawling her mates, anyway.
You could force the whole world to call children with intellectual and physical troubles “rarefied souls of special worth and beauty” (which, is pretty damned accurate in my book), but the Euphemism Treadmill will just trundle it right back to us, mangled and distorted.
We’ve got to be made of sterner stuff. Sticks and stones will break our bones–so we should avoid those for sure. And words will sometimes sting, especially to the ear of someone with personal experience. But, you can’t go through life with skin made of tissue paper, wringing your hands over the accidental or intentional misuse of words.
Words are powerful, but actions in the real world will always have more power. A spirit unwilling to be broken to bits against waves of human cruelty, well, that’s like a superpower.
The answer to bullies should always be a resounding: YOU CANNOT BREAK ME!
That link was to a Bloggess article. I enjoy her candor. ( If you are easily offended by profanity, skip it, but she’s disarmingly honest. And that’s something I @#$@#ing appreciate in a woman. Mainly, because it’s rare.)
I love this quote:
“As your child gets older he or she will eventually find themselves face-to-face with the more subtle and manipulative bullies who have traded their childish ways of demanding milk-money for the more damaging art of taunting, snubbing, and insulting everyone they can. This is the worst kind of bully and also the most virulent. “
Again, words are powerful (as powerful as we allow them to be) but true nastiness comes from action (or tactical inaction–those pesky sins of omission).
So lighten up on demanding people speak the way you want them to speak (i.e. forced political correctness) and start demanding positive action.
Tell them, “I don’t give a crap if you call the latest PSP game retarded, but you’d better get off your ass when the game is over and spend some time helping others.”
And that’s my take on the R-word and the bullying mania…
The world has a lot of problems, perhaps language is one of them, but if it is, it ranks right up there with the blight of swimsuit wedgies and reality TV.
