By Ouyang Dan on 12 June, 2010
[Trigger Warning for descriptions of violent thoughts of self harm] Oh, by now, faithful readers, you know where we are about to go. We are about to go on a little journey into my mind, the scary place that it is, where I open the floor to discussion about the ways that, once again! Stars [...]
Posted in intersectionality, language, media and pop culture, mental health, military, news, othering, oyd rants | Tagged ableism, i am not your metaphor, intersectionality, invisible disabilities, language, media and pop culture, mental health, mental illness, military, things people say, word use, words mean things
By Chally on 14 April, 2010
I’m thinking on metaphors of the body. Here are some examples of what I mean: On the one hand Foot in my mouth Lend a hand Get back on my feet Stand up to her Run with the idea Wrapped around hir little finger Get your foot in the door Dip in a toe Dangle [...]
Posted in language | Tagged language, word use
By Chally on 10 February, 2010
I tend to tense up when I hear that question. What I frequently want to say is, ‘I am not doing well at all. I’m exhausted, I’m stressed, there’s so much drama in my life. My legs hurt and and I really need to sit down. I’m just struggling.’ But that’s not what many people [...]
Posted in language | Tagged rethinking social norms, word use
By Annaham on 30 January, 2010
The following appeared in Slate’s “Dear Prudence” advice column chat-room supplement fairly recently: Chicago: We have a close friend who is prone to embarrassing malapropisms that surpass even the best Norm Crosby bit. These are not innocent and simple mispronunciations—but ugly mangling of words including misuse and lack of understanding of the meaning of some [...]
Posted in Dear Imprudence, language, normality, representations, shaming, social attitudes | Tagged advice, communication, language, privilege, social treatment, word use
By s.e. smith on 1 January, 2010
Ableist Word Profile is an ongoing FWD/Forward series in which we explore ableism and the way it manifests in language usage. Here’s what this series is about: Examining word origins, the way in which ableism is unconsciously reinforced, the power that language has. Here’s what this series is not about: Telling people which words they [...]
Posted in 101, Ableist Word Profile, language | Tagged idiot, imbecile, language, moron, word use, words mean things
By s.e. smith on 4 December, 2009
Ableist Word Profile is an ongoing FWD/Forward series in which we explore ableism and the way it manifests in language usage. Here’s what this series is about: Examining word origins, the way in which ableism is unconsciously reinforced, the power that language has. Here’s what this series is not about: Telling people which words they [...]
Posted in 101, Ableist Word Profile, language | Tagged spak, spakking out, spaz, spazzing out, word use, words mean things
By s.e. smith on 23 November, 2009
(Textual note: “ou” is used as a neutral third person pronoun in this text, by preference of the author.) Hello everybody! It’s your friendly neighborhood Language Police Officer1 here, to write about language. Again. The response to the Ableist Word Profile series has been, well, tremendous. Some readers are telling us that it’s their favourite [...]
Posted in language | Tagged ableism, word use
By s.e. smith on 19 November, 2009
The Ableist Word Profile has a new introduction: Ableist Word Profile is an ongoing FWD/Forward series in which we explore ableism and the way it manifests in language usage. Here’s what this series is about: Examining word origins, the way in which ableism is unconsciously reinforced, the power that language has. Here’s what this series [...]
Posted in Ableist Word Profile, language, social attitudes | Tagged word use, words mean things
By s.e. smith on 16 November, 2009
Welcome to Ableist Word Profile, a (probably intermittent) series in which staffers will profile various ableist words, talk about how they are used, and talk about how to stop using them. Ableism is not feminism, so it’s important to talk about how to eradicate ableist language from our vocabularies. This post is marked 101, which [...]
Posted in 101, Ableist Word Profile, language | Tagged ableism, halfwit, nitwit, word use
By s.e. smith on 4 November, 2009
Welcome to Ableist Word Profile, a (probably intermittent) series in which staffers will profile various ableist words, talk about how they are used, and talk about how to stop using them. Ableism is not feminism, so it’s important to talk about how to eradicate ableist language from our vocabularies. This post is marked 101, which [...]
Posted in 101, Ableist Word Profile, language | Tagged ableism, scab, word use
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