"take offense to"; the "R-word"

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:44 PM -0500 2/8/10, Bill Palmer wrote:
>Somewhere I have seen the phrase (is it OK for me to say this?)
>"developmentally delayed", which will probably undergo the same thing that
>has happened to the "r word", as more sensitive terms are unearthed.
>
>Bill Palmer

Will French speakers now be unable to apologize
for being "en retard" when they get caught in
traffic?

LH

>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Seán Fitzpatrick" <grendel.jjf at VERIZON.NET>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 11:14 AM
>Subject: Re: "take offense to"; the "R-word"
>
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>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       =?iso-8859-1?Q?Se=E1n_Fitzpatrick?=
>><grendel.jjf at VERIZON.NET>
>>Subject:      Re: "take offense to"; the "R-word"
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>><<It has boggled me for years that otherwise-thoughtful people would use
>>that
>>word.>>
>>
>>A twofer on the Retard Monitor.
>>
>>Sean Fitzpatrick
>>Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?
>>I blame Global Warming.
>>http://www.logomachon.blogspot.com/
>>
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