That's so gay....

[DrFaroohk]

Well, all I know is that when World of Warcraft pisses me off and I get killed for some shitty reason, and I say "Man that's so gay". I am in no referring to homosexuals. So anyone who's offended can go suck on that. Once again, my intentions trump whatever the fuck bullcrap people want to make up for lack of something better to do.

[Andara Bledin]

Thing is, most of the people I've heard say "That's gay" aren't doing it to offend people, hell like I said, I know gay people that say it, or have said it.

Yes, they are. They're saying it to offend the targeted individual, group, or activity by tying it to being homosexual. It's a form of casual bigotry that's hard to stamp out because so many otherwise reasonable people think it's no big deal.

Well, all I know is that when World of Warcraft pisses me off and I get killed for some shitty reason, and I say "Man that's so gay". I am in no referring to homosexuals. So anyone who's offended can go suck on that. Once again, my intentions trump whatever the fuck bullcrap people want to make up for lack of something better to do.

Maybe you should figure out something a little less bigoted and more imaginative when you're upset.

Or, you can just sit in denial that you're being a bigoted jerk with a limited vocabulary and are unable to articulate your frustration without denigrating a group of people who had nothing to do with your predicament.

^-.-^

[muses_nightmare]

Yes, they are. They're saying it to offend the targeted individual, group, or activity by tying it to being homosexual. It's a form of casual bigotry that's hard to stamp out because so many otherwise reasonable people think it's no big deal.

Explain to me why a gay person would say it then? Anyone I've personally heard say it was just using it as a casual term, not as some sort of offensive slur, no one I know that has said it or does say it is someone who is homophobic. Things don't always mean what people assume they mean, and this is making a big deal out of nothing. It's like being offended by someone saying something is crazy.

[Greenday]

Maybe I should start using retarded again like I did when I was a kid. It's cool since I'm not talking about people, right? And if anyone gets offended, I'll tell them they are an oversensitive wuss.

I can start referring to all women as bitches like my coworker, because bitch just means woman, it's not derogatory.

Just saying a word or phrase isn't offensive doesn't make it so.

[Andara Bledin]

Explain to me why a gay person would say it then?

You'd have to ask the person saying it, but I would expect it's because they're unimaginative sheep just bleating along with the rest of the flock.

^-.-^

[muses_nightmare]

Retarded is not offensive, frankly if you think that everyone who says it is doing it to offend someone you are being over sensitive. Lighten up.

Also, that's so gay isn't terribly common anymore, at least not where I live. Frankly, I don't give a crap if someone is so sensitive that they get offended over it. I shouldn't have to look up every word I say to make sure it's politically correct.

Is calling something crazy offensive to those with mental illness now?

[Gravekeeper]

I have to admit this is one that really irks me when I hear it. I was in high school when that crap first started and it was originally being used in a deragatory fashion. The teacher's cracked down on it immediately and would smack yer ass if they heard you saying it.

Just because it got enough traction to somehow become socially acceptable in some circles doesn't mean it makes you any less of an ass for using, frankly. Nor canI comprehend how you can seriously try and say its totally harmless and means something else entirely.

In school after the teachers did away with it, some of the jocks started trying to use "Yag" instead. They thought this was very clever. Luckily, it was so god awful lame it never caught on. >.>

[muses_nightmare]

Also, I'd like to say that the whole Bitches argument doesn't really fit with what I'm saying, as you would be calling people that, as opposed to a situation. Do you find the phrase "Life's a Bitch" offensive?

[Andara Bledin]

Retarded is not offensive, frankly if you think that everyone who says it is doing it to offend someone you are being over sensitive. Lighten up.

This statement has managed the impressive feat of divorcing itself entirely from it's own context.

If the words weren't being used to denigrate something, then why would you be saying them at all?

^-.-^

[smileyeagle1021]

Well, all I know is that when World of Warcraft pisses me off and I get killed for some shitty reason, and I say "Man that's so gay". I am in no referring to homosexuals. So anyone who's offended can go suck on that. Once again, my intentions trump whatever the fuck bullcrap people want to make up for lack of something better to do.

THe problem is that words have meaning. They have history. Language is a living breathing thing that influences who and what we are. Intentions have nothing to do with meaning and history. Just because someone who says "what up nigga" doesn't mean to be offensive doesn't change the fact that the word has a very strong and painful history for many people.
The history of that phrase was that gays were inferior and it was therefor appropriate to compare other less desirable situations to being gay.
As to intentions, if I were to go out drinking and drive afterwords and I were to hit and kill someone, it would not matter that I had no intention to kill the person, it wouldn't change the fact that they were dead or that I had caused it. While I understand those two situations are in no way related, the same concept applies, it is not intention but outcome that is important.
You have no idea when in a public forum whether the person you are talking to has some traumatic experience in their past (such as say a group of four boys attacking them, calling them a fag, telling them to man up and stop being so gay, as an example) that hearing that from you is going to bring up that connotation or not. So why do it? There are many many adjectives out there that can be used to describe a situation that don't involve words with that kind of meaning and history.

Explain to me why a gay person would say it then?

One of three possibilities.
One, they don't understand the power and meaning of words and language. Language education is not tied into orientation, or gender, or ethnicity, or religion for that matter.
Two, this is somewhat tied into the first one, they never had an experience in their lives that would make that strong negative connection in their psyche. As I understand it, Canada has a much lower rate of hate crimes and hate speech than the United States, so the likelihood that they have ever experience true bigotry and hatred may be low.
Third, this, along with all language, is conditional. There are things I will say amongst friends who I know well enough to know how they will react to words that I would normally never dream of saying in public. Yes, I'll tell my fiance "wow, you are such a fag" because I know for him, having spent a lot of time in Scottland, one of his oldest connotations of the word is a ciggarette and it amuses him that the best insult so many Americans can come up with is comparing a person to a cigarette. Would I ever dream of on this board saying "wow Hyena, you are one really big fag", outside of that example never in a million years would I consider saying that. They may be saying it around you because they know how you will take the word. This kind of goes back to what I was saying to Dr. Faroohk, why I specifically talked about in public forums (either online or off).

[HYHYBT]

Two not-entirely-relevant thoughts come to mind from this topic: one is "You like having sex with men? That's so gay!"

The other has to do with The Price is Right. A couple years ago, they decided to re-decorate the Showcase Showdown wheel. The result was so hard to look at that they didn't even finish the first week of tapings with it, but instead had it back in the shop to get its current look as fast as they could borrow the one from Las Vegas to fill in. Now, seeing that short-lived design does bring to mind the phrase "that's so gay!"... not because it was bad, but because it was purple and sparkly with lime-green trim.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Big Gay Wheel!

[Greenday]

Retarded is not offensive, frankly if you think that everyone who says it is doing it to offend someone you are being over sensitive. Lighten up.

Also, that's so gay isn't terribly common anymore, at least not where I live. Frankly, I don't give a crap if someone is so sensitive that they get offended over it. I shouldn't have to look up every word I say to make sure it's politically correct.

Is calling something crazy offensive to those with mental illness now?

I've already said that while people might not be trying to be offensive, that doesn't change the fact that it IS offensive. God forbid people have feelings (I for the most part don't but I at least recognize other people do) and something is able to hurt them. Why do you believe it's not okay for people to have feelings?

As for the crazy thing, I don't know, I don't deal with people with mental illnesses much.

Also, I'd like to say that the whole Bitches argument doesn't really fit with what I'm saying, as you would be calling people that, as opposed to a situation. Do you find the phrase "Life's a Bitch" offensive?

Bitches does fit in quite well with what I'm saying though. Someone is being annoying? "Dude, stop being such a faggot." "You're being so gay." That's calling a person that.

[muses_nightmare]

Bitches does fit in quite well with what I'm saying though. Someone is being annoying? "Dude, stop being such a faggot." "You're being so gay." That's calling a person that.

I was never referring to those uses. Those I don't agree with and have never said them. "that's so gay" is different because you aren't referring to a person, you're referring to a situation. Calling a situation a bitch, is completely different from calling a person one, and that's my attitude about "That's so gay" I hope that clears it up for you some.

And please do not assume things, people are allowed to have feelings, I never said they couldn't, but if a stranger who I never see or hear of again gets butthurt over something I say casually, something that isn't directed at or about them or anyone else, I don't really care. Also like I said, I don't say "that's so gay" anymore, it's just fallen out of my regularly used phrases, it wasn't a huge one in my vocabulary to begin with. I do call things retarded though, *shrugs* I don't use it to be offensive towards anyone, I'll be talking to someone about a problem or something and I'll say "that's so retarded" about a situation. I don't see what's wrong with that.

[Greenday]

Whether it's about a person or thing, it's still being used in the same way. Why does it matter whether it's a person you are talking about or a thing?

[muses_nightmare]

Why does it matter whether it's a person you are talking about or a thing?

Because it does, how a word is being used does matter. If it isn't being directed at someone it's different from if it is being directed at them. Context is important in this case.

Besides all this, I don't think it's as common as it was say 5 years or so ago. At least where I live it isn't, which is probably why it's gone out of my vocabulary. I wouldn't care one way or the other if it died out of usage entirely.