(June 18, 2014 at 8:06 am)Tonus Wrote: I used to use "fag/faggot/gay" as pejoratives, but gradually stopped because I think that in that sort of usage they are no different from racial slurs and --having gotten to know a fair number of gay people-- I no longer feel comfortable using them. I still occasionally use "retard" but have been using it less and less for the same reason. I never used "cunt" because in the US it seems to elicit a pretty volatile emotional response. Or maybe that's just my impression, since I never hear it locally.
I have never had a discriminatory thought regarding homosexuals and grew up not considering faggot a pejorative term specifically aimed at homosexuals. It was always used as a general pejorative like asshole, dickhead, cunt, douchebag, etc. I only learned that it was considered particularly offensive to gays when I noticed that the word was being censored in the Dire Straits song Money For Nothing when played on the radio.
Has someone now decided that 'gay' is offensive? If so, I think I'll push back on this one a bit; although, I can't imagine a situation where I would use it as a pejorative. This reminds me of the recent campaign to get the word 'bossy' removed from our common vernacular.
