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Upsetting Words

Riley

Well-Known Member
Sometimes, certain key words will make me squeamish. The idea of typing them up and searching makes me squirm:
  • Clown
  • Clown college
  • Lesbian
 
I cannot even type the words, so they have to remain hidden lol that is how bad it feels to me. Also if I do type them out, others are bound to say them and I just cannot cope.
 
'retard' makes me feel things i dont like, but thats because of the connotations, i am diagnosed under the olden days of the DSM, with "mild mental retardation" and it really makes me feel like a pain or something,in my head when i see or hear 'retard' or 'retarded'.

ive been bullied with it and called it by ignorant people ever since the word became popular in the UK around 1995, plus those of us with the disability are not slow in thinking,we just cant process as much information as other people we have a limit and this has a knock on effect on our capcity to understand the world and it is what makes us 'low functioning' [nb; intellectual disability in autism is what makes us LFA as it has a huge affect on functioning and how the autism presents,HFAs by definition cant have ID thus their autism presents differently to ours].
 
Be advised that AC is a support forum.
Forum rules 3, 4, and 6 are as follows:

3. Racial, gender (sexist) and religious hatred/discrimination

will not be tolerated.

4. Do not post content that is explicit, degrading or offensive.
For example: porn, gore, death or similar.

6. Excessive use of explicit language is not allowed.

Please be mindful that some posts may trigger other members
and be careful what you post.
 
Not along the same lines, but I never used to like the word 'moist'. However, a few people knew I didn't like it and kept saying it..and now I'm not bothered at all by it.
 
Be advised that AC is a support forum.
Forum rules 3, 4, and 6 are as follows:

3. Racial, gender (sexist) and religious hatred/discrimination
will not be tolerated.

4. Do not post content that is explicit, degrading or offensive.
For example: porn, gore, death or similar.

6. Excessive use of explicit language is not allowed.

Please be mindful that some posts may trigger other members
and be careful what you post.
hi tree, is disablist discrimination and disablist abuse included?
i have seen people use 'retard'/ 'retarded' in a negative and mocking way before which upset me a bit because i know any 'ism' against race, LGBT etc isnt tolerated-its my fault for not reporting it and asking for your view on that type of discrimination. its just some aspies dont care about the effect their words have on the perception of people with cognitive/ intellectual disability.
 
Be advised that AC is a support forum.
Forum rules 3, 4, and 6 are as follows:

3. Racial, gender (sexist) and religious hatred/discrimination
will not be tolerated.

4. Do not post content that is explicit, degrading or offensive.
For example: porn, gore, death or similar.

6. Excessive use of explicit language is not allowed.

Please be mindful that some posts may trigger other members
and be careful what you post.

I deleted my post. I apologize yet again for being so sensitive. I am one of those aspies who don't understand how bad words hurt others. I guess I just use hurtful words as a revenge tactic since hurtful words have been used against me in the past. But I'm getting better, as I'm starting to understand that words hurt. I shouldn't be causing the suffering of innocent people just because I'm suffering inside; it's not fair to anyone.
 
I think context is very important with how words are used. Just me simply seeing or hearing a word isn't enough to trigger any sort of negative feelings in me unless the context is also there. No one can make me have a certain reaction to a mere word and I refuse to allow them that kind of power over me. If they can no longer use one specific word to cause harm, they'll just move onto another word and so on and so forth. For example, if someone is racist toward blacks, there are plenty of ways and alternate words to express that other than the n word. So that's why the word doesn't matter to me but instead the context.

At what point do even non-degrading words like lesbian become off limits? In particular lesbian is a small part of who I am. If someone told me I can't say it because someone else has a bad experience with it, I would have to say something else that means the same thing. "Gay woman", "homosexual woman", or whatever would be used to mean the same thing with more words. Personally I like to reclaim words because they don't always have to have a negative meaning.
 
Words that slightly disturb me...
Pumpernickel, lol, if someone said it over and over again, I'd plug my ears and run away.

I'm sure there's more I'm not remembering. Nothing that truly upsets me I think.
 
Yes there's probably a few, but none Id like to write, they are uncomfortable, and I'd never vocalise them either.

I think some words seem to wear a scar in my brain, and a reaction forms to them from then on.

I guess it comes down to words I've taken to relate to me in the past that have been negative.
 
Not along the same lines, but I never used to like the word 'moist'. However, a few people knew I didn't like it and kept saying it..and now I'm not bothered at all by it.
A lot of women seem to find "moist" a bit disturbing. Personally, I associate it with chocolate cake, or possibly brownies... but I'm not a woman. I wonder - is it because it makes people think of moist parts of their body? Although I still don't see why it's disturbing. I mean, whatever object it reminds you of, you want it to be moist, right? You wouldn't want to eat dry cake, or dry... well, anything else it could be applied to. o_O

Any men out there dislike "moist"? What about other women?
 
A lot of women seem to find "moist" a bit disturbing. Personally, I associate it with chocolate cake, or possibly brownies... but I'm not a woman. I wonder - is it because it makes people think of moist parts of their body? Although I still don't see why it's disturbing. I mean, whatever object it reminds you of, you want it to be moist, right? You wouldn't want to eat dry cake, or dry... well, anything else it could be applied to. o_O

Any men out there dislike "moist"? What about other women?

I don't know why I didn't like it, and I don't remember ever consciously associating it with anything in particular. I think I just didn't like the way it sounded when said, as I never had any issue with seeing it written down.
 
Actually, come to think of it, there is a word or rather specifically, a phase, that does bother me, person of color. This also includes people/woman/women of color. I don't know if I want to go as far as to call it upsetting, but bothersome is probably more like it. I find this phase annoying because it others anyone that isn't white into the same label. Seriously, why is person of color a political correct term? It's a word order difference from colored person which is considered racist due to historical context. Why does it come down to white person or person of color? I'm black, is it really that hard to call me a black or even a brown person? Calling me a person of color labels me the same as Asians, Latinos, Indians, and other non-white people. For the political talking points of erasure, it sure seems like person of color is somehow not considered that. I don't like making a big deal about my race but I prefer black or brown person over person of color.

I know unlike most of the other examples in this thread, person of color isn't used as an insult. Like if someone wanted to insult me along the lines, they would call me a colored person. I know I mentioned context in my previous post and person of color is almost always used in a context to refer to anyone that isn't white.
 
'retard' makes me feel things i dont like, but thats because of the connotations, i am diagnosed under the olden days of the DSM, with "mild mental retardation" and it really makes me feel like a pain or something,in my head when i see or hear 'retard' or 'retarded'.

ive been bullied with it and called it by ignorant people ever since the word became popular in the UK around 1995, plus those of us with the disability are not slow in thinking,we just cant process as much information as other people we have a limit and this has a knock on effect on our capcity to understand the world and it is what makes us 'low functioning' [nb; intellectual disability in autism is what makes us LFA as it has a huge affect on functioning and how the autism presents,HFAs by definition cant have ID thus their autism presents differently to ours].
Its called a euphemism treadmill an endless cycle of ever changing terms or phrases that get replaced when they become a point of ridicule ,for example in the early 1900s moron was a term used widely in scientific enquiry, the same can be said about retarded
 
I'm curious as to why the word lesbian makes you squirm...are you homophobic?

Sometimes, certain key words will make me squeamish. The idea of typing them up and searching makes me squirm:
  • Clown
  • Clown college
  • Lesbian
 
I'm curious as to why the word lesbian makes you squirm...are you homophobic?
Oh for goodness sake, really?! She said she doesnt like certain words , that doesn't mean she is a clownaphobe does it . I dont like the word bulbous but I still eat onions
 

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