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Rod Speed Rod Speed is offline
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Default What words or phrases annoy you?

micky wrote
Rod Speed wrote


You get the same problem with disabled, the worst of the fools
don't like to admit that they are disabled and use other silly terms.


Disabled has a meaning, but it's not the one they
think it is and it's not the one they usually want.


That's just one of the meanings of disabled.

When you disable the starter motor, or the
AC, or anything, it doesn't work anymore.


With people its actually the reverse of the much older term abled,
in the sense of an able bodied person or servant or seaman etc.

All of the "advocates for the disabled" try to
make the point that most of them are useful.


Yes but disabled doesn't rule that out with people.

They can overcome their problems, either with technical help or
just by taking more time, etc. They are still able to do things.


Yes.

They are not disabled.


Yes they are in the sense that they arent abled.

Sometimes they even call them "differntly abled",


Yeah, that's one of the more silly terms I was referring to.

But even that isnt accurate because they are hardly ever
more abled than people generally are, in a particular area.

There are some exceptions like say the blind can have a
much better memory than a not disabled person etc.

a terrible construction but it still makes
the point that they are not disabled.


They are actually disabled in the sense that the word abled is used with
people.

The word they wanted they already had, handicapped.


They don't like that word either. Or crippled
even tho some of them are crippled.

Handicapped means you can do it but it takes
longer or maybe you don't do it quite as well.


Just as true of disabled.

So golfers are given a handicap, but it's really
an anti-handicap to be able to compare their
scores on a given day with par.


That's different again.

IIUC jockey's who don't weigh as much as the other
jockey's get weights put on their horse to make the
race fair, unrelated to the weight of the jockey. The
weight is a handicap, but the horse still finishes the race.


All this started by a misunderstanding, thinking that
handicap was related to some kind of begging with
a cap in one's hand, but that would be capihand.
The origin of handicap is different. It's an entirely
different word.


Strangely, afaict they still have handicap parking.


Not here, its called disabled here.

I guess the disabled are not allowed to park there, but
then again, if they're disabled, they can't drive anyhow.


Yes they can. If they were disabled like with a starter motor
they would be dead, not able to do anything at all.