it drives me crazy, but people say it constantly. if something is not cool, it is deemed to be "lame".
when i mention that i'm not okay with it, they tell me that it's such an old-fashioned term for someone who doesn't have "normal" use of their body that it no longer counts... and they say i'm being ridiculous.
at this, i never know what to say, because these are folks who have awesome anti-racist analysis, and should be more aware. i just don't get it.
so what do you think: is using the word "lame" as a synonym for "uncool" oppressive able-ism, or is it a fine modern colloquialism (and i need to get used to it)?
when i mention that i'm not okay with it, they tell me that it's such an old-fashioned term for someone who doesn't have "normal" use of their body that it no longer counts... and they say i'm being ridiculous.
at this, i never know what to say, because these are folks who have awesome anti-racist analysis, and should be more aware. i just don't get it.
so what do you think: is using the word "lame" as a synonym for "uncool" oppressive able-ism, or is it a fine modern colloquialism (and i need to get used to it)?
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Canada
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Sun, December 4, 2005 - 12:14 AMoften I have heard it in the context of somebody or something that is inferior. I never thought of it as oppressive, but I suppose at least in a certain context it is oppressive.
This is a link in urban dictionaries site www.urbandictionary.com/define.php -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Sun, December 4, 2005 - 12:38 AMthanks for the urban dictionary link; that's an awesome way of keeping a language collective and dynamic.
so according to the co-creators of the online urban dictionary, it's pretty much agreed that it's okay to use "lame" to mean "pathetic" or "unoriginal".
that got me thinking, and i looked up "gay". cuz you know, that's my other favourite all-purpose insult to overhear when i'm riding the bus to work...
the urb-dict says that the use of gay to mean happy is archaic, its current usage to mean homosexual is fine, and its application as a word meaning "uncool" is offensive. which was nice to read, and gave me faith. -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Mon, December 5, 2005 - 9:21 AM"The modern use of the word lame is directly related to the definition of not being able to walk. It doesn't move, it needs to be carried; it has no game, etc."
To define having "game" as intricately linked to able-bodies shows us that the use of the l-word is able-ist and offensive. The fact that people make excuses for its use simply shows laziness... Its not being overly p.c. anymore than not using the n-word, or inappropriately saying fag or tranny, or the other plague of hipster circles-- retarded...
Personally, I feel it follows the same rules: If you are a person who would be targeted by the word, only you can use it (if one finds it reclaiming or empowering).
Hence, I can say tranny... but I get shivers when I hear it from the wrong folks. I know to many folks who are hurt by the l-word to condone its use.
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, December 7, 2005 - 5:24 PM"has no game", that's realllll great...
i just talked with someone about this topic, and they said that they never knew the term lame to apply to people; they thought it was only used to describe horses.
as in, a lame horse being one that must be shot, because it is permanently injured.
this only made me feel more confident in my personal objection to the term as a synonym for uncool. the struggle remains in calling others out on it though... it's easy when someone disses something by calling it "gay", cuz i can sweetly reply "oh... i'm gay! but i don't think you were referring to me?" and smile. that doesn't work in this case, visibly able-bodied as i am.
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Tue, April 25, 2006 - 9:47 PM"Hence, I can say tranny... but I get shivers when I hear it from the wrong folks."
do you get offended when your friends jokingly use the word tranny?
i have a close friend that likes to joke with me all day every day and tranny comes from his mouth once in a while. do you think he has the "right" to use it? -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Tue, May 2, 2006 - 12:01 PMI think that is something individuals need to work out together...
I have friends who have different abilities who play with words like 'gimp', the l-bomb, and such... they have made it open for me to use various words in relation to them… I still choose not to.
This has come up for me with various friends of various identities…. Ethnicity, class.. body fat content… etc…
Its rare that I find my self feeling comfortable using reclaimed pejoratives that don’t relate to me… regardless of the “contract” I might establish with others.. My past has been filled with too many mistakes in that arena… especially in the realm of posting (rather than spoken communication)… that’s just my personal, current stance on it.
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, December 7, 2005 - 8:57 PMthis got me thinking
last year i stopped using the word "retarded" when a friend of mine brought up that it was offensive...so i got in the habit of just saying "stupid" or "lame"
but now every time i use the word "lame" to describe something that i think is "stupid" or "dumb" i wonder if its the same thing as using the R word...since using "lame" that way makes me feel like i might be offensive ive been using it less and less -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, December 7, 2005 - 8:58 PMuh...i hope that made sense -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, December 7, 2005 - 9:00 PMIt does. -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Thu, December 8, 2005 - 4:41 AMi'm all in favor of sensitivity. but if it's oppressive to say "that's so lame/gay/retarded", what should one say?
"that's so rich"? -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Thu, December 8, 2005 - 10:12 AMi dunno ....stupid or dumb??? -
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Unsu...
Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Thu, December 8, 2005 - 10:30 AMHow about whatever it is more precisely? Like absurd, ridiculous, boring, unappealing... -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Tue, April 25, 2006 - 9:49 PM"How about whatever it is more precisely? Like absurd, ridiculous, boring, unappealing..."
most of the time my brain isnt that quick :(
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new language!
Fri, December 9, 2005 - 12:02 AMmy anti-capitalist friends and i once had a whole evening devoted to this topic! my favourite new phrase that came outta that discussion was "damn, that banks!".
my kid sister recently referred to something as a "douchebag", which i also like. i mean, douching is totally bad for vagina health, you know?
i agree though that the best thing is to try and describe something as what it really is. english is full of adjectives; let's use 'em instead of lazily resorting to repetitive (as well as oppressive) language. -
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Re: new language!
Fri, December 9, 2005 - 12:03 AManother friend of mine recently reclaimed "stupid" as her favourite insult. coupled with a serious tone and a withering look, it's just brutal. -
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Re: new language!
Fri, December 9, 2005 - 8:07 AMi love the "banks" suggestion. but i don't like "stupid". some people are just born that way, and there's nothing really wrong with it.
how about "that's just bush"? -
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Re: new language!
Fri, December 9, 2005 - 9:24 AMone of my personal favorites for replacing "lame" etc. is "weak sauce" -
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Re: new language!
Fri, December 9, 2005 - 1:51 PMbeing a foodie, I love the descriptive "weak sauce" I will certainly promote it as an option (along with not being so lazy with language, but hey, we do like our slang...)
reminds me of the positive descriptive "gravy"
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Re: new language!
Sat, January 21, 2006 - 12:38 PMWeak sauce is a great term - but I think I might laugh if my dad said it (and he's very cool). -
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Unsu...
Re: new language!
Sun, February 19, 2006 - 12:58 AMi remember this chick where i worked at a women's centre way back...she called me lame...as in siam...yer so lame...and i was like...actually, yeah, i know i am. i have cerebral palsy....use a scooter walk with crutches....and she was so embarassed when she realized what she had said and who she had said it to. i think it is really good to be conscious of the language and the terms we use...and agree that often it has to do with laziness...sometimes has to do with reclaiming....and sometimes we can get carried away with political correctness too. i know that i certainly have used the term retarded more than my fair share....and you are right.....there are so many descriptive adjectives that get under-utilized.... -
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Re: new language!
Fri, April 14, 2006 - 6:18 PMoh fuck! i can't believe that chick said that! or yeah, actually i really can... at the women's centre where i work, there aren't any folks with visible disabilities coming 'round very often, and when i've brought up how i hate the word "lame", that was used as an excuse for not purging it from our vocabs! as in, "well, who's directly offended? no one here!"
and i KNOW that they'd never say that if i called 'em on using the term "slaving away", cuz it's all hip to be anti-racist. but anti-ableist? "meh, why bother, too much work!"
grrrrrr.
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Re: new language!
Tue, April 25, 2006 - 9:51 PMive reciently started to use douchebag to describe someone im frustrated with
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Tue, April 25, 2006 - 9:48 PMwhat if that offends rich people? -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, April 26, 2006 - 5:21 PMdude, rich people offend me EVERYDAY by their simple reluctance to challenge an economic system that clearly fucks other folks over, just cuz they benefit from it! they're such douchebags...
hey, you know what's another misplaced insult? "wanker"... i mean, wanking is so good for everyone! we should support wanking, and use wanker only as a compliment. -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, April 26, 2006 - 7:39 PMwhat about being born into a rich family? what about oprah? what about....just cause they offend you does that make it ok for you to offend them? -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, May 3, 2006 - 12:16 AMyeah dude, two wrongs make a right! didn't you learn that in grade skool?
and what does oprah have to do with anything? -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, May 3, 2006 - 12:24 PMdoesnt she fall into the "rich - having lots of money" category?
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, May 3, 2006 - 12:24 PMso do you mean ALL rich people? -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, May 3, 2006 - 4:05 PMall i mean is that to use rich as an insult is a way of drawing attention to the fact that despite the way our society seems to bent on pursuing monetary wealth, it's not something that we all agree with... and that it's something worthy of debating.
i like to think that using rich as an insult does just a little somethin' to remind folks that we've got a choice here, that capitalism is actually an economic system constructed and maintained by US... it's not something ethereal, a natural order of things (is there really any?). we made it, we can change it, we can think of something more interesting/beautiful/accepting/inspiring. same as with our approaches to gender, to sexuality, to physical ability!
but i can see that maybe using insults ain't the best way to do this... cuz i suppose it tends to just put people off. i sure as hell wouldn't start calling crappy things "het" or... whatever the opposite of genderqueer is. (gendersquare?)
you know, i've never actually watched oprah... and i don't really want to, though i guess it'd be kinda fun, as an exercise in race/class/gender/sexuality analysis...
hey riotboy, wanna get together and watch teevee sometime? it seems that we might have some good discussions. -
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Re: "lame"- oppressive or acceptable?
Wed, May 3, 2006 - 9:38 PMmaybe just using negative language is a bad idea altogether haha. i dont know. i dont have a better side of my debate than what i already said. (my cat just almost fell out my window just thought id share haha) but really though oprah is amazing and has awesome shows. i actually dont watch much tv. when i do its cosby show, forensic shows, learning shows or oprah. hahaha
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