Singer Lizzo used the word 'SPAZ' and Generation Woke are raging

She’s fat and black and can say whatever she wants.

Much ado about nothing.

Her wig looks ratty.

This is why they hate us.

The N-word (can we even call it that? Or is that in itself too triggersome?) is in a league of its own when it comes to career-ending toxicity (when used by white people). This is just an observation of fact rather than a comment on it. Beyond that, R1 sums up what will be the outcome of this story.

[quote]She’s fat and black and can say whatever she wants.

For now.. Give it a few years.

It’s offensive. There’s lots of alternatives.

Oh, FFS. I’m mental and have a spinal cord injury that’s left some of my muscles literally spastic. If I couldn’t joke about it or take a joke about it I’d be crying. (I much prefer to joke, thanks.) 🙄

She’s so disgustingly fat. She’s not even thick, she’s just rolls of fat busting out everywhere. I can’t imagine how high her blood pressure and glucose are.

Any word that "represents" a minority which gets overused in a derogatory way is eventually made verboten.

I"m sure people here are glad when a straight person's called out for using 'fag" in a derogatory way.

Get over it. New words are created every day. Just keep up and use those... until they're fazed out.

It's a juvenile tacky term.

“Gypsies, tramps, and thieves”

Dear Lord in Heaven!

I seriously doubt anyone thinks of "spastic diplegia" or cerebral palsy when they hear the word "spaz", except for power-hungry idiots trying to bully someone into submission.

Well, at least they didn't before. Now I think of people with cerebral palsy jerking back and forth! Thanks, woke folks, for associating it and strengthening the connection!

It’s so weird how she’s fat but her breasts don’t fill the cups of her… whatever it is she’s wearing b

BIG as a HOUSE!

Reminds me of Spaz from Revenge of the Nerds.

Oh wait, is Nerd a trigger word now too?

They won't like this painting then.

R17 you ableist bigot! How dare you

forgot the title "Children and Spastics" by George Tooker.

Spastic!

Nobody uses the word "spaz" to insult somebody who actually has a spastic medical condition. It's used as a synonym for freaking out or being exceptionally physically awkward. Is it insensitive? Sure. But it's not a slur and publications should be ashamed of how many words they now represent with asterisks because we're supposedly all so goddamned delicate that communication itself is triggering.

Spaz is a much more serious slur in the UK than in the US.

R22 it's equally dumb because when the Professional Aggrieved(tm) go to look up these words to see if they were insulting at any point in history, they are reminding everyone of the original or earlier meaning and thus increasing the knowledge and use of the word and connecting it back to whatever meaning that had long since been lost in the public consciousness.

It's the Streisand effect, essentially.

We should all just not speak anymore, since we can't say anything that doesn't offend someone.

[quote]Oh wait, is Nerd a trigger word now too?

Yes.

I do love when the Aussies use the full word spastic. It's more visual when it's articulated.

Baby was a black sheep, baby was a whore...

Yeah, it’s a *much* more serious slur in the UK – probably only the N-bomb might be considered to equal it for offensiveness (and even there, there are circumstances where the latter is okay, while the former never is). Way more offensive than, say, cunt, for instance.

It’s the sort of word that would get you instantly sacked from almost any job if you were heard using it.

So that’s why the fuss is mainly coming from Brits.

Why is it so taboo for Brits?

[quote]Why is it so taboo for Brits?

Twits

"Spaz" has been considered rude (or worse) for a very long time. Tiger Woods was criticized for using it, which must have been close to 20 years ago. She's young enough that I am surprised she even used it.

Strangely, r30, there is actually an article about that.

Fucking retard.

I don't know why but it's funny to think Brits get their panties in a twist about the word spaz but cunt is A-OK. Ah, cultural differences.

I had no idea this was a bad word. I will do better.

Likewise, no one I've ever seen used "retard" to describe the developmentally delayed.

It's common usage for the last 3+ decades has simply meant someone is acting stupidly or insensitively.

"Stuck-up little spastic!"

While OP and Generation Republican rail against LGBT people with their "patriot" militias

Missy Elliott slimmed down after a doctor told her she was going to die. I don't know why this fat slob can't make an effort.

Mark my words, in 2-4 years it's going to be cool to say real, actual slurs. Bullying minorities is going to be cool too. This woke mob mentality is already used to bully, the veneer of morality gets worn down everyday.

[quote]I seriously doubt anyone thinks of "spastic diplegia" or cerebral palsy when they hear the word "spaz", except for power-hungry idiots trying to bully someone into submission.

That's EXACTLY what people say who use "gay" as a slur for "not good" R14. They literally say "nobody thinks "homosexual' when I say 'that's so gay.'" I'm sure if they get corrected or scolded for calling something gay, as a putdown, they get mad about power-hungry people trying to rule their lives.

And you know who probably thinks of spasm inducing diseases when they hear the word "spaz"? People with those diseases, their family, their friends, their doctors and caretakers. The fact that it's NBD to you is entirely irrelevant.

You’re all a bunch of retarded spazes.

OP Generation woke lives to rage. Why concern yourself? Ignore them and they'll go away

I remember that, R32. And I remember everyone freaking out over a)how awful and terrible and egregious and discriminatory it was or b)saying people were making a big deal out of nothing and it was fine and holy fuck calm down etc. And a LOT of people seemed to miss that, actually, there is a huge difference between how this word is viewed and used in the UK and how it's viewed and used in North America.

In Canada, I still hear people using this word. It doesn't mean "disabled," it means to freak out or to do something stupid. There is no historical or current association with disability. In the UK, it is specifically a slur regarding disability.

The opposite thing happened a couple of years (?) ago when the Northern Irish presenter Eamonn Holmes called Meghan Markle uppity. This time it was Americans in uproar, losing their shit over what a racist he was and calling for him to be fired. Except "uppity" doesn't have the racial undertones in the UK that it has in the US. It just...doesn't mean the same thing. It does not have the same history. And no good faith observer thinks this presenter was deliberately using a racist slur (and risking his job and reputation) purposefully.

This is like a very basic IQ test. Either you understand that certain words have different meanings and connotations in different countries etc. or you don't. Lizzo almost certainly has no idea this word has any association with slurs against the disabled. Not that this will make any difference to the people howling about it, as it did not with Eamonn Holmes and did not with Tiger Woods.

That's so retarded.

You fags need to understand that calling somebody a “spaz”, is deeply offensive.

[quote] Nobody uses the word "spaz" to insult somebody who actually has a spastic medical condition. It's used as a synonym for freaking out or being exceptionally physically awkward.

This is exactly like Eminem saying it's okay for him to call someone "faggot" because he says it has nothing to do with being gay.

Uh-huh...

R48 as far as I can tell, "faggot" in ghetto/jock parlance implies a manipulative little backstabbing bitch or a whiny shithead, and has very little to do with being gay. "Homo" would be used to denote actual gay people, and probably would be said between two assumedly straight people about someone else. It is a word with a slang meaning and a derogatory meaning when used by different groups in different settings, much like the N word.

Using that word to refer to cigarettes never really caught on here.

All fixed. Now hush y’all.

Why that obese nigger cunt.

^ Bye-bye, thread.

So dumb. Of course Lizzo will give in to the mob.

she obviously wants to die R40 and the doctor is concerned he might lose a patient

I still prefer "mong".

I just used to not saying "mongoloid." Now this?!

I'm a gay from Down Under, and in my home town of Melbourne there is a vile cunt who has made it her life's mission to be outrageously offended by as many topics and people as possible. I'm sure some of you will know who I'm talking about but I won't give her the satisfaction of setting off her Google alerts.

Spaz like bullocks is not derogatory in The US. We were taught to stop saying retard in the 2000s but nobody cared about spaz as it just meant a hyperactive person. People didn't associate it with disabilities. Just like idiot, moron and neanderthal, it may have had outdated origins but the intent matters and in America, it's just not an ableist slur.

I have a fiend who boasts about his spastic colon.

"Spaz" can not be uttered. . .but "Queer" is okay.

[quote]

Any word that "represents" a minority which gets overused in a derogatory way is eventually made verboten.

I"m sure people here are glad when a straight person's called out for using 'fag" in a derogatory way.

Get over it. New words are created every day. Just keep up and use those... until they're fazed out.

R10 thats called the Euphemism Treadmill... and its endless. And pointless

The words fag and queer are different as they have never changed meaning. Even with these, there has at least with the word queer, been an attempt to reclaim it rather than stop its use, which I think is a smarter approach

Innocent question here, what about using the word queer to represent it's original meaning (meaning a little strange or different)? Is that at all acceptable or should the word just not be used?

I don’t think it’s cancel culture to expect people to stop using terms like “retarded” and “spastic” as insults.

I'm triggered.

Rhyming wounds, people.

Do better.

Off topic a bit, I love her latest single.

[quote]I have a fiend who boasts about his spastic colon.

That is indeed fiendish.

[quote] I don’t think it’s cancel culture to expect people to stop using terms like “retarded” and “spastic” as insults.

I do.

A society which is afraid of the English language is a weak society.

We will just become an even more divided society: the kind, woke cautious vs the free speech fun and funny; the Lizzous vs the Ricky Gervaix.

'Spaz is a much more serious slur in the UK than in the US.'

This is true. Other related UK slurs are 'Joey' and "Joey Deacon'.

Some more serious related UK slurs are 'Jamie (Cockney Slag) Oliver'.

On the other hand, it makes it super easy to be punk now - so many ways to offend people! The world is your oyster!

[Quote] Spaz is a much more serious slur in the UK than in the US.

Hilarious, given you throw the word cunt around like it's sprinkled parmigiano.

I envy them for that, r72! Lucky spazzes.

A lot of her "woke" critics ARE spazzes, so this hit them particularly hard.

[quote]And you know who probably thinks of spasm inducing diseases when they hear the word "spaz"? People with those diseases, their family, their friends, their doctors and caretakers.

Not all of us, r42. Like r8, I have actual spasticity (due to MS), but I understand the vernacular use of the word as equivalent to "nerd"- not very nice and I don't personally call people those names, but hardly worth getting worked up over compared to other things I've actually been called. Anyone who would make fun of me is already an asshole, anyway, so I'll react more to the disrespect than to their choice of words.