An Open Letter To The People On The Internet

[snarp]

Dear Fellow People On The Internet,

I think maybe we all need to stop using the word "special" to mean "not smart," because I'm pretty sure that the etymology there is that it comes from "special needs."

("Special snowflake"-type usage is a different case, and I'm not disposed to complain about it.)

Thank you,

Somebody who just realized that, when she's trying to write dialog for middle-school-aged bullies, she assumes that "special child" will be among their top five most frequently-used insults.

Comments

[nicki]

Right now the major insult is "Bop" for girls which seems to be a synonym for slut, but I haven't actually asked any of my students yet. Almost all insults among my terribly sweet middle schoolers are sexual in nature and most of the rest involve gender identity assassination. Oh, and very occasionally they involve fighting ability (for both boys and girls)

[branchandroot]

Yeah, I have a vague recollection of that one getting started on one or another late night show. It was certainly the same time-frame as remarks about riding the short bus.

You know, before all the funding was taken away under the cover of "mainstreaming".

[yeloson]

Thanks for the reminder. "Special" and "Lame" are two things I'm working out of my vocabulary.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, trying to excise "special" and "lame" as pejoratives from my vocabulary is really hard, but I'm trying. :/

[reileen]

Cosigned so hard.