To think this is awful -Do you have a resident town loony?

[hf128219]

I think it's dreadful. It's really got my goat.

It does come from lunar, same root as lunatic / insane (lunar cycles and allthat)

but just for me the word loon isn;t the issue- it's how it is used.

If it's used to specifically ID certain very visible people in atown, most of whom will ahve some story and history of how they got there, for the purposes oflaughter / desrison / general finger pointing then it is massively wrong.

Whereas if Dh leaves his coat in pizza hut and I say 'you loon'I know I shoudln't but it has compeltely different connotations WRT discrimination, hatred and acceptance

If that amkes sense?

It wasn't JUST the word, it was the tenor of the OP - which was basically: "ho, ho, does anyone else have a nutter who walks around their town centre clapping, aren't they hilarious these wierdos, come on down and share your fabulous nutter-in-shopping-centre stories for a bit of a giggle on MN". For those of us with kids with special needs, it just isn't much of a giggle.

and for those of us who have been rounded up by the police and hospitalised for 'acting like an unruly toddler' in public places it was highly distressing

ah. with you.

• sick - my children both have autism. I spent a few years in and out of psych units in my late teens. I just have never found that word a problem.

But I get it - the particular context was the problem.

it wasn't even the word loony which I had a problem with - as I said before, many of the service users I work with call themselves that and get called far worse.
I am affected by the full moon myself. And in some countries (russia, Poland) lunatic means sleepwalker.
It was the whole ''laugh at the bedlamites'' tone, especially those youtube links.

sorry, x-posted with peachy i see

It makes me very sad when I think that grown ups actually find amusement out of other people's difficulties.

As for the word Loony. the reason it doesnt cause as much outrage as some other derogatory words is because having a mental health /learning difficulty is more discriminated than any other factor.

Repeated surveys sending CVs with open mental health histories compared to any other factors (Sexual preference/physical disability/race/religion/criminal record) always receive far fewer responses.

People that would never use other offensive words quite happily use mental case/loony/nutter etc

Youtube business is bad bad bad

I posted on the other thread and wish I hadn't. I didn't really think about the definition of the word loony at the time and wish I had thought more about it before posting. I was just thinking 'odd/quirky'.

FWIW, the people I mostly gave example of were people who after speaking to in the past I actually think are just a bit quirky - I don't actually think they have mental health issues and they can be entertaining and very nice people to speak to

I did give an example of one who is mentally ill and regret doing that - it certainly wasn't too mock him though. He was someone who I spoke to on numerous occassions and I actually think that he is a great person, regardless of what problems he has! Probably not wise to have got involved though and mentioned him so I'm sorry for that. I hope I made it clear that I had no intention to mock him as he is a great guy!

Amongst my family and friends there are people with various mental health issues and special needs so wouldn't dream of being nasty to people who were different (for any reason - race/health/dsiability/sexuality, etc...).

Feeling quite sad I posted now as didn't mean to cause offense.

As for the links - I didn't see those. I posted then left! That is shocking. Would never link to such things.

I never actually read the initialthread,Ormmay understand as she knows where I grew up.

But I am so thankfulI didn't see youtube.

A week or two ago I was walking over school in the snow, threewomen (one I know and thought was OK) turned,gigled,looked back at melaughed and pointed.

I did the whole look behind me thing, nobody there.

Now,either it was a complete over reaction to the fact that my hat and scarf didn't match (no euphemisms! Am not wandering de-clothed and wondering why peopleare staring LOL) in hastily grabbed cold day style, or it is something to do with my little eccentricities and the boys. In short, I am now wondering if I am becoming the village loony. AFAIL there aren'tany others here so there's probably a vacancy.

Anyway, I know how that hurt and how bad it amde me feel about myself- I suspect that if you are battling with MH,SN

Wineonafridaynight -like you I posted on the other thread but realise now that I should have thought a bit more before posting.

If I'm honest I didn't take on board the thread title or read the entire thread before I posted. I'd always presumed, wrongly I realise now, that "loony" was a light-hearted word.

My interpretation of the thread (having not read it properly first)was that it was discussing local eccentric characters that people have in their towns and I was discussing, with a couple of posters, the people I remember from where I used to live.

I too apologise if I caused offence

peachy - they are clearly wankers How unpleasant.

I am the queen of eccentricity - and I don't care - I was running down Castle Street the other day being a (roaring) velociraptor with DS#2, and I skipped into the classroom with him on Friday because the kids in front of us started skipping. But those are odd things and I'd expect people to look and snigger.

Yes but Prm,did you stand out?I mean if you aeeccentricisnt that thge place to live?

My best mate used to have a toy turtle in her handbag sticking out and sing zippideedoodah allthe time,I can't remember her ever getting a single look.

It has its bad points but blimey it has positives as well.

Tis true

I think I like weird which may be why I'm quite happy here.

I read a few posts on the other thread, then left it well alone.

It made me think about 3 people from my local community in London. It made me feal really sad, and I for sure did not want to post about them on a thread seeming to mock such "eccentricities". One of them I used to speak to. An elderly man in a suit which had seen better days. He used to sit outside Costcutter early in the morning. He had lost his family through his alcoholism. He showed me pictures of his son, he was very proud, he had just started Uni.

If anything we should take a moment to reflect on our lives, and how our community can be a better place if we stepped out of ourselves once in a while with understanding and love for all our fellow human beings, not mockery and laughter. We know so little, and we are so quick to judge.

Quint, I agree whole heartedly with your last para.

Peachy, how awful - I hate pointers.

But, to the thread in general, it doesn't need to be as obvious as pointing to be hurtful and upsetting.

In John Lewis, Bluewater, small electrical appliances a woman stood in the queue (yes, which was long and boring so DS and I were probably the most interesting thing there) and stared, open mouthed, with a horrified look on her face as DS caused a scene in his wheelchair whilst I tried to buy a kettle. As we were leaving I took his arm and made him wave to her saying loudly, "Wave to that lady DS, she seems to be very interested in you." Actually I felt like crying (has been a very trying few weeks, DS' behaviour has disintegrated since the skull fracture and EDH's) and shouting at her that it was rude to stare.

So maybe, as Quint says, we should all look to our own lives as to how we could make things easier for others - even a simple thing like not staring could have made my day much better.

Orm, I think it's lovely that you can be a skipping velociraptor and be happy, but it's your choice. In the blink of an eye, you could regain control and be mummy again. It's harder when you can't switch off at will.

Yes goblin, I do see the difference of course. But I guess what I was trying to say that I don't find people acting oddly (for want of a better word) disturbing. I notice it but it horrify me or frighten me as it seems to do some people.

Added to which when DH worked in a residential home for people with learning difficulties, we sometimes used to meet him in town with some of his clients. My DC weren't fazed in the slightest. It was just the way those people were.

Just to point out that when I said 'those people' I meant 'those particular individuals' not 'those people' as in THEM! IYSWIM.

Actually the original word loon or loony does not come from Lunatic (as in the latin Luna, the moon), though the current meaning is influenced from there, its actually from the middle english Loun, meaning eccentric or foolish.

Which may or may not have anything to do with the fact that the word loon is used in different ways. I use the word, as do most people I know to either mean a lighthearted synonym for silly or foolish (as in OP, you're being a loon!), or to mean someone who is quite odd. I've never used it to mean someone who is mentally ill or with special needs.

Language isn't always black and white, so equating someone using loon as the same as saying paki or spaz is neither fair or accurate, unless you know what way they mean it.