to be annoyed that yet again eastenders used the expresion"epi"

[2shoes]

bianca was telling her dd of and used the expresion and roxy used it the other week.
can't the scrip writers think of a better word to use??
dd has epilepsy and so does dh. and I can assure you it is no laughing matter.

But you cannot use the word nigger today without being completely aware of using it to BE offensive. That's what makes it different. I think the word paddy (to have a tantrum) has completely divorced its meaning from any possible historical connection with irishness . Surely if nobody links it with Irishness, it cannot make them think less of Irish people or contribute to prejudice. Just as nobody associates bugger with Belgians. There is NO other meaning for nigger today. II really don't think this has got anything at all to do with not liking or respecting Irish people.

Absolutely. If you are rude and offensive to anyone disabled or otherwise it is wrong and socially unacceptable. My point is it's the behaviour and the intention not the words. The words are perfectly meaningless it's how they are used.

WEll, you may not link it MsDemeanor, but I do. I didn't enjoy studying Irish history particularly, but I did, and so the links are probably clearer to educated Irish people than they are to British people who have not all studied that section of history.

It is perhaps no surprise that most GB people simply do not get this. It is upsetting though.

PS another important point.

In this instance, it is Irish people who are the potentially offended group, so it is not down to the British to decide whether or not that term is now so divorced from its original meaning as to be now no longer offensive.

If a person without epilepsy decides that the term 'to have an epi' is not offensive, does that carry weight?? Or is it more telling that a person WITH epilepsy finds it offensive.

rebelmum1 i can only think you must live a perfect little life with a perfect little family and never been touched by predudece.
I suggest you walk a day in some ones shoe's(my ds will lend you his once he has spat in them) and maybe you will realise that it is not just how the words are used.
even seeing the words like spaz can be upsetting.....why? because that word has caused my family no end of upset over the years and still does. the odd thing is my dd isn't even a spaz but the fuckwits who think words like that are ok just assume as she has cp she is a spaz and a retard. when she is neither a spaz or a retard.

you can argue untill you are blue in the face that it is how words are used that is important but at the end of the day there are some words that should never be used.

i assume you have children. if so how would you like them to have to put up this kind of abuse?

I've never even heard the phrase before, and I can't be the only person in the country who hasn't heard it before and would thus pick it up from the show (especially given how popular Eastenders is).

If I had come across the phrase anywhere (as it happens I don't watch Eastenders so this thread is the first time I've heard it) I would have assumed the origin was epilepsy and thought it was an offensive term to use.

Sorry, I'm not adding much to the debate but just pointing out that the show might be encouraging the use of a phrase which perhaps isn't that widely known in some parts of the country. Regardless of whether it's part of established language in some areas, it's not reasonable if a popular TV show is using it such that it may become established language everywhere.

Yes but do you think the word is the problem, spastic was originally a medical term and not meant as an insult. I'm just saying banning the word isn't going to address people's ignorance and rudeness. The behaviour and the ignorance is the problem not the vocabulary. They'll just find another word and turn it into an insult. The people are the problem not the language.

spastic is still used (medically) to describe one of the many types of cp
there are many other types like athetoid which even though dd has it I can't spell.
tbh people will never learn i think the threads on here sadly prove that.

dd has cp and epilepsy and dh also has epilepsy. it is no laughing matter.
but then dh got his due to an accident when he was 17.. so take not e people who use these words. it can happen to anyone

I'm offended by eastenders full stop. I think it's ghastly, the people are horrid and they are rude and abusive to eachother. Like I say I switch it off.

Never heard of a link between bugger and Belgium before. Bugger Bognor, yes, but that wasn't anything to do with derivation!

this site says bugger is from Bulgarian, not Belgian, but it's about 1,000 years old so probably not used to oppress any Bulgarians who happen to be around when someone stubs their toe.

well i wish this thread would bugger of. it is doing my head in. imo there are some people who are just so set in their ways they will never change, and a few shit stirres as well.(not you edam you are lovely)

The word "bugger" was derived, via the French "bougre", from "Bulgar", that is, "Bulgarian", meaning the medieval Bulgarian heretical sect of the Bogomils, which spread into Western Europe and was claimed by the established church to be devoted to the practice of sodomy.

Well, you learn something new everyday.

I was always told never to say 'blimey' because it comes from 'blind me' (as in, asking God to blind you). No idea if it's true or not, although I have never used it.

Heffagooday i was told that when I was little(scared me) didn't it come from gawd(god) blind me

i do wonder how old her dc's are. will she ever do a thread complaining that one of them has been hit for using one of these words that she says are just words?

2shoes - that was what I was told. As I say, no idea if it's true but never used it!

I have to confess that I've heard words on here described as offensive that I had no idea about (such as 'paddy'). I've never heard a word that I actually use described as being offensive, but I certainly wouldn't use a word once I had been told that it was offensive. Even if I was a bit dubious about the reasoning, I'd hate to think I was upsetting someone when I could so easily just substitute another word.

Oh, and 'berk', as in 'stop being such a berk' is from Cockney rhyming slang right? - 'Berkshire hunt---- c*'
Or so I'm told.

So, although it's not necessarily offensive to any particular person, it's pretty bloomin' rude.
Now that I know the origin I can't use the word, cos it just sounds so crude to me. Cannot stand the word c*. Blurgh. Not very good at swearing at the best of times though.

(apologies if someone has alsready pointed that one out, have not read the ennnntttiiiirrrreee thread, I confess)

Edam, sorry to quote something you said on another thread, but subject similar and it struck SUCH a chord with me.

you said.."I have epilepsy and what really pisses me off is people who try to justify their use of this word or other prejudiced terms by pretending they don't really mean what they actually mean or belittling anyone who dares to protest.

The actual use of the word wouldn't wind me up too much - I'd just quietly and calmly ask the person if they knew what it meant and suggest they may want to avoid using it in future. But any attempt to justify it once the meaning is explained is very offensive. There's a big difference between saying something without thinking and insisting on your right to be downright insulting. "

I FEEL absolutely the same as you. On this subject and on the subject of the expression 'have a paddy'. If you subsitute a few words, we feel exactly the same.

I did contact Margot Charlton and I am right. But at that point the thread had died and I didn't like to call you out just to say 'I am right'. There were umpteen different meanings under Paddy and 'to have a Paddy' arose from drunken bawdy Paddywhack.

Possibly it can not be proved like DNA can prove guilt or innocence. But understanding the political climate that gave birth to the expression is what's relevant in this instance.

Ex