Do you think its acceptable to say......

[anniebear]

The word 'fit' Just read it being used on another thread and I'm not sure about it.

As in "oh he had a right fit" or "he threw a right fit today' (tantrum) or she was in 'fits of laughter'

Ellie had Epilepsy (waiting to see if she has anymore seizures since coming off meds) and I don't think it is very nice to refer to a child having a tantrum looking a like a child having a seizure.

What do you think? Is that a bit OTT? Some people would say they can hardly say anything nowadays without offending others. I do have a few friends who use the phrase but they don't mean any harm by it so I never say anything.

I was in a play area with a friend the other day and Ellie got in a bit of a nark. I couldn't see her properly and said to my Friend "Is she ok" She replied "Oh she's just having a fit because somebody knocked into her")

I was so close to saying "Oh no, she hasn't had a fit for a long time now"!!! lol

Do you think it is an acceptable or unacceptable word to use?

I know there are different meanings

Maybe it's just when somebody says "Oh they had a right fit

reffering to a tantrum which doesn't sound nic3

Ooops sorry!!

And if 'fit' is removed due to worries about offending epileptics then would would no longer be 'Blind to the facts, deaf to reason or paralized with fear'. Laughter would no longer be infectious, batteries couldn't be dead and we couldn't be struck dumb.

Just as an aside I have described my dds tantrums as looking like fits, as that was an exact description of what they looked like. I used to work in the field of epliepsy. At the time 'fit' was being used less and seizure was the norm in the US. It may be more accurate to get 'fit' not to be used for seizeures IYSWIM

I'm still shocked by the apparent un-PCness of Brainstorming...........

(before I offend anyone does anyone else think Brainstorming isn't PC??)

tbh the word "fit" doesnt offend me as it can be used in allsorts of different contexts

btw ds consultant and some medical prof use the word "fit" meaning seizure

I've never found the word "fit" used in the contexts mentioned as being offensive, but (changing the subject) I don't like it when people say something is "lame".

anniebear - I quite often say "fit" to decribe ds1's behaviour (I even say "he had a seizure" to dh meaning he went of the deep end), BUT I have also stopped myself using fit with someone whose dd has a lot of seizures (and I'd never use seizure outside of the home). So yes I guess I must have some feeling that fit could be offensive/a reminder/inappropriate because I avoided using it.

can see where you are coming from but of course the word 'fit' has more than one meaning.

According to my dictionary, the use of the word 'fit' in such situations as tantrum/epileptic/coughing/sneezing is because those things are all uncontrollable events, to a greater or lesser degree. In which case, it's hard to view it as offensive, I think. Tbh, I mostly would use 'seizure' wrt to epilepsy nowadays, as 'fit' seems rather old-fashioned in that context.

As the mother of child with epilepsy .... depending on how it is used, I can find it slightly offensive. Well, not so much offensive, but I do notice it and it does jar sometimes. Hard to explain exactly when, and am desperately thinking of an example...

I think it is really the idea that someone being a bit cross is anything remotely like a 'seizure'... because I think if you have lived through them then you know it damn well isn't. And you can say that is a different meaning of the word but the fact that people do also use 'epi' in the same context does suggest to me that probably the word started being used in that way did have something to do with 'epileptic fits' or that there is some kind of connotation. But, you know, it is so much a part of common language now that I don't think it can be changed or that you can really blame people for using it.

That's why most people do now refer to seizures I guess. It will be interesting to see if in the future people start saying 'he threw a right seizure'.....

And in some ways even seizure isn't that helpful as different seizures can have such wildly different presentations.

I used to work on complex partial seizures and used to sigh when people asked for more detail!

The level of ignorence about epilepsy is stagering.

surely you don't expect your average Joe Soap to know about epilepsy

i can how you are sensitive to the word but dont let it get to you.

i am irish and many of my friends refer to their children gaving tantrums as "having or throwing a paddy" when they say it, it does stop me for a second but thats it. i would not let something like that bother me. i know they are not using it in a nasty way or to upset me, just an expression.

if you listened to people over 50 having a conversation thep probably use many expressions that many people woul find offensive an un PC. People now a days are more aware of the meaning and effect of words.

i think we should all chill out a bit and try not waste energy worrying about it.

if it bothers you enough to upset you then maybe you should ask your close friends and new friends you little girl makes to not use the word. if i was your friend and you asked me i would understand.

I certainly wouldn't expect joe public to know the names of different types of epilepsy.... but I don't think it is a lot to ask that people realise that there are different types of seizure even if they don't know what they are IYSWIM.

bump

Well as it slightly jars 2 people on here, that I like very much, I will from now on think before I use the word, not that I think I do actually but even so... I'll be aware from now on that it might jar someone a bit.