Phrases

Have you ever heard someone say something along the lines of “that’s retarded”, “that’s gay?, or this is depressing.” When used in a joking manner, these words become derogatory, and can easily offend someone. At a restaurant, at school, watching a movie, or even reading a book, one may hear a phrase of this sort, and think nothing unusual about it.

In today’s society, these phrases are thrown around commonly, with little or no thought.

In order to truly understand a word, one must first define it. In Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictonary, retarded is defined as slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress. However, one may notice that people do not use the word to define something or even someone who seriously has a defect, instead why may “special.” As one can see, people have taken the word retarded out of its context, and have begin to use it lightly. For example, if someone trips and falls, someone else may say, “You are so retarded.” This, in no way, is being slow or limited, it is simply a matter of gravity, and something one can control, unlike retardation.

Another word or phrase that is thrown around without attention to feelings is the word “gay. ” Webster’s New International Dictionary defines this word as lively, merry, or bright. For example, The trailer for Broadway Melody of 1940 said, “It’s big as Broadway, and twice as gay.” This was to be taken literally, using the textbook definition of the word. But, in today’s time, people also use this word when talking about something that they think is stupid or they don’t like. For example, saying “that’s so gay,” when a student is given a new assignment in school. And before this, the word “gay” was used to specify a group of people, although they have begin to categorize themselves even more.

Another phrase that is used without much thought is, “I am so depressed.” Depression is defined as a mental state charcterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity. It’s constant sadness, and not just one thing when one doesn’t get their way, and feels a small bit sad. Some people even use the phrase in a completely different way. For example, “I am so depressed that I have never seen this amazing movie before.” Depression is not something to be taken lightly, and it wasn’t always a word people just threw around in public. In earlier times, people would be mortified to hear people talking about their “personal” lives in such a way that our culture does.

History shows, that with the changing of clothing, politics, and even food, the meanings and usage of words also change. As human beings, our moral obligation is to make sure that the changing of the meaning of these words offend no one.