the word offensive should be banned

[historian]

This is the only country in the world where anything you say offends someone or the other. Whats the matter with us? Are we so namby pamby we have forgotten how to laugh at ourselves and others?

[trof]

1. That's offensive.

harumph
;-)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. I don't believe in banning any word but wouldn't mind if some became

obsolete.

We are humans. We live in language as much as a bird lives in air and a fish lives in water. The language we live in gives us the world we live in.
If one lives in a world languaged by bitch, cunt, nigger, kyke, whore, bastard, half-breed, slut, gooks, etc...then when one looks out in the world, they see bitches, cunts, niggers, kykes, whores, sluts, bastards, half breeds, gooks, etc...that worldview creates/ perpetuates a world we keep saying we don't want.

If we don't want it, why do we insist on speaking it into being?

[trof]

11. There you go again...

Trying to inject a note of realism.
jeez.
"When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?"

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

12. Oh no..we should indeed cater to the people who scream PC at every

REASONABLE attempt to have them examine what comes out of their mouths or their keyboards...the entire world should adjust it's interpretation of poor behavior to cater to the "as nasty and offensive as I wanna be crowd."

Here's the deal...if they assert free speech..so do I....the freedom to call them on the prejudice or other anomolies eveident in their speaking.

[camby]

3. Let's take a moment to cherish the things that DON'T offend us:

- advertisements for hemorrhoid medications
- advertisements for women's products which go into great detail about the quantity of menstrual flow
- advertisements for sexual aids which caution prolonged erections possibly requiring medical attention
- toupees on old white guys
- polyester stretched across a dimpled ass
- reality tv
The list is endless...

[theivoryqueen]

7. dog hats.

oh, and shoes. Dog shoes.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. Boy Bands..

Hair Bands..

Whiny Psuedo-Punk Bands..

Crappy White Wannabe Hip Hop Bands

"Singers" who adopt that horribly affected Mariah Carey/Celine Dion singing "style" of injecting so much ersatz, phony emotion into every single overblown note that the final product is indistinguishable from aural cheez whiz.

Did I mention Boy Bands?

Hmm. What else..

Oh, yeah, those ads for the erection drugs: "Erections lasting over 6 hours may require medical attention"... Really, Doctor? Ya Think?

Personally, I thought it just meant I was 14 again.

[theivoryqueen]

16. rubber band slingshots

owch!

[theivoryqueen]

15. insurance guys

or girls with largeer than life lips.

[patrice]

4. People cause their own pain.

Their reactions to what others say are their own to govern as they choose, so if they are offended it is because they choose to be offended. They COULD choose not to be. They want to be offended. Why?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

8. Tell that to every little black child that's been called the N word

[sandnsea]

Big load of shit

I think people do get offended too easily. But your psychobabble is a bunch of bullshit. There are times people behave so shockingly bd that any person with a shred of integrity would appropriately be offended.

My daughter called upset a little while ago because a neighbor was beating his dog. She was offended. She shouldn't be?

[historian]

20. psycho babble you say?

beating a dog is psycho babble. That is physical cruelty, and the proper word for her reaction isnt offended - its appalled, disgusted, angry, upset or simply furious.
The word offensive is, in my humble opinion, merely an excuse to hide behind the nasty realities of life. If a black person is called a nigger then he should, and rightly so, view the name caller as someone beneath contempt and pay no attention to him.

[DrWeird]

21. Let's say it's his boss.

Or the cop who's beating him.

[DrWeird]

22. offensive:

abhorrent, abusive, annoying, biting, blue, crumb, cutting, detestable, disagreeable, discourteous, displeasing, disrespectful, distasteful, dreadful, embarrassing, evil, foul, ghastly, grisly, grody, gross, hideous, horrible, horrid, insolent, invidious, irritating, nauseating, objectionable, obnoxious, odious, off-color, offending, opprobrious, outrageous, repellent, reprehensible, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, rotten, rude,

[NorthernSpy]

26. warning: such insults can be construed as fighting words

The word offensive is, in my humble opinion, merely an excuse to hide behind the nasty realities of life. If a black person is called a nigger then he should, and rightly so, view the name caller as someone beneath contempt and pay no attention to him.


I've got a better idea. Let the insulted Black guy give Mr. 'Nasty Realities O'Life' a busted jaw. Just for starters, to shut him up.

Words have meanings. People who go looking for trouble deserve to find it.


Mary

[historian]

19. thank you

best response yet!!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

5. We do not have the right to not be offended.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. Whatever happened to my rights end where yours begin

Does everyone who has posted so far live in a personal world where no one else exists?

Do you people pull this shit with your families? If so, how is your relationship with them?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

25. I must have missed that in the Constitution.

Where is it?

For example there is the First amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech. Where is the amendment that guarantees you won't have to hear me speak something that you find offensive?

Some people actually find it offensive to call Bush a liar or a terrorist -- does that mean I should refrain from saying those things?

[theivoryqueen]

6. howsabout as in "tet"?

or I'm-a goin' on the offensive to get rid of all those namby pamby party poopers who keep me up at night a'complaining about all the dog poop in mah yard.

[jdonaldball]

17. I don't find tets offensive at all

[theivoryqueen]

27. I think the "PC" term is "boobicles"

[DrWeird]

10. So what did you say?

Usually people who whine about other people being offended just said something really stupid and offensive.

So fess up.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

13. Oh I don't know..I for instance have seen people take up the claim of one

group while minimizing the claims of other groups...if one only wants understanding, respect and compassion for their cause but wouldn't apply it to other causes just as worthy as theirs...is it really understanding and compassion or merely self indulgence? I ask you specifically because you can really see it when the issue pertains to bigotry directed toward African Americans but you mock it when directed at Jews or women. Why is that? Are we somehow LESS THAN?

[DrWeird]

18. Alright, what the fuck are you talking about?

Let's see.

1. There was the thread the other day when I said it was OK to make fun of Hitler. What that has to do with mocking jews, I haven't the foggiest.

2. There were the threads the other day when I asked why it was sexist to say that a person would like to have sex with somebody they found attractive. And I still haven't gotten a logical answer btw.

Frankly, I haven't a problem if somebody says such and such and African American is hot and would like to have sex with him/her.

[No2W2004]

23. won't that make football kind of confusing?

What new name would one come up for an offense? From now on you have the Defense and the ball-moving-down-the-field-side?

[IronLionZion]

24. I'm offended!

nah, I totally agree with you. There are some people right here on DU that can't take a joke and think everything is offensive, racist, sexist, whatever. It's so silly. I understand that some people are more sensitive than others but it's time to lighten up a bit.

If we can't handle crap from each other, how can we fight the neo-cons? Those guys are truly scary.