spaz and Tiger Woods

Baker, John JMB at STRADLEY.COM
Thu Apr 13 15:19:46 UTC 2006


        There's an article on the BBC's website,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4902432.stm, discussing the
word.  There's also a list of the ten worst disability-related words,
according to a BBC survey:

1. Retard
2. Spastic
3. Window-licker
4. Mong
5. Special
6. Brave
7. Cripple
8. Psycho
9. Handicapped
10. Wheelchair-bound

        "Spaz" isn't separately mentioned; I guess it was included with
"spastic."  "Window-licker" is new to me.  I'm a bit surprised at the
antipathy toward "brave" (though maybe I shouldn't be on that one) and
"wheelchair-bound," which I would have supposed to be a neutral term to
describe someone who requires a wheelchair to get from place to place.


John Baker

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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