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I don’t see a point of constantly shifting the words. It’s the meaning that matters. I’ve heard people use “mentally challenged” the same way people used idiot and retard. Now if I look up “mentally challenged” it’s directing me to “Intellectual disability”, which still means in the same thing, so it’s only a matter of time before people start using that and the words have to change again. It all seems so pointless. No one likes being called an idiot, but it’s there will always be a word to cover that meaning. We might as well just use the words we had.

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Delphia@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I once told a coworker doing dumb shit to “Take a minute, go outside and count your chromosomes.”

I also told another one “You are wasting my time AND the time of the tree that makes your oxygen”

I never used the words idiot or retard, but I meant every word. Because if being bitched out for unsafe behavior hurts your feelings, you’re really going to hate being thrown offsite and having to beg HR to keep your job. Because those are my choices, bitch you out or write you up.

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Pons_Aelius@kbin.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

I don’t see a point of constantly shifting the words.

There is no point, that is just what humans do with language. It is never static. Always evolving.

Every generation crates new slang to differentiate themselves from their parents. Give it enough time and Latin turns into French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian because each local population changed Latin in different directions.

It is even happening to English. There are now several sub-languages of English according to linguists.

UK English.

US English

Aus English

Singapore English

International English

To name just a few.

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- bob_wiley@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yeah, this stuff isn’t really slang though. They’re replacing the slang with ever more technical replacements in an effort to make something non-offensive, when the idea behind the words is inherently offensive. Then shame is used to drive adoption. Slang I get, this other stuff… it’s just annoying.
  
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  - Pons_Aelius@kbin.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Taboo words are a strong driver in language drift.
    
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