Indeed ...............................he could have said stupid or thick ................who knows next week they may well be the buzz words. On live TV - you react - it may have been an unfortunate choice of word but ....................................why do people get so strung up about it?

 

Yes but he said it on live TV. Of course its going to strike a nerve with some people. It strikes a nerve with me for personal reasons.

 

Plus he's a grown man, he should've known better not to say it, let alone on TV. I know some people complain for the hell of it, but in this case I stand by them....I wouldn't bother phoning up to complain because I'm too lazy, but I don't have an issue with the people who did.

If he was using the word to describe a disabled person then that is highly offensive and complaints would be completely justified however he wasn't

 

It was worse, he used the word to describe somebody he thought was stupid and if he thinks that's being retarded, then he's a hopeless case quite apart from the use of that word not being acceptable in any situation.

It strikes me, those who don't like him will always see the bad in him.....happens with other celebs too, No?    

That doesn't take away from the foot in mouth sprout.

Other peeps do it too though   

Doesn't make it right.

Correct. It's this thing about context though 

On live TV everyone is capable of foot in mouth. Was it that bad? The Dad at home with an Autistic child chose to take offence!

 

I would never, ever call an autistic child retarded - Eamon Holmes didn't either .............some people need to get a life. We can all take offence if we choose to - it really wasn't directed at anyone! PATHETIC!

I would never, ever call an autistic child retarded - Eamon Holmes didn't either

 

But he compared being stupid to being retarded. That's really quite bad for a person who has been on live TV for over 30 years.

   PC Correctness again innit Sooz 

Or... ignorance.

Well what should we do? Sack him ...........flog him .............humiliate him? Surely a quiet word after the show would have sufficed. Sorry ..................I can't be doing with all these people getting offended on behalf of everyone else. When they had the post show meeting maybe it might have been an idea to say - that really wasn't a good choice of wording - don't do it again.

 

I really hope the guy with the Autistic son appreciated the apology on air . It wasn't directed at his son but hey ho - he chose to take offence (on behalf of his son).

Oh C'mon Col. You don't think he did that deliberately do you? 

I see our seagull poster did it again.  

I know the PC brigade has gone too far, but there are some words which should not be used. I.e. the n word the c word and the r word amongst a few others I can't think of right now. The guy is a complete professional and this should not have happened. Why did it? Because he thinks he's above criticism. Remember how he treated Andrea whotshername. Lots of anecdotal evidence of his pomposity. That makes it worse.

Oh C'mon Col. You don't think he did that deliberately do you? 

 

Ignorance is the opposite of deliberate.

OK, everyone's entitled to their own opinion 

 

Couldn't have put it better!!

i really and truly don't see it like that at all. On live TV /unscripted - he was unwise in his choice of wording. I really don't think he deliberately set out to offend - I really don't think he believes he's beyond criticism.

 

I just think - in life we may take offence at things - ON TV - people wait with their finger hovering over the COMPLAIN button.

Correct - although to be fair I can't stand the guy however I will support anybody who is a victim of PC gone mad.

 

 

You know, we all have differing standards...personally I try not to use words that I think people would take offence at. Having a ex sister-in-law with Down's I know too well how touchy people can be on sensitive issues like this. Me personally, I think it's an awful word and I would never use it, each to their own, but believe me words can hurt even said in the most innocent of ways.... I'll leave the thread now

 

Some people make it their life's work to complain - mostly on behalf of other people who they think should be offended but who usually aren't.  It's the same when TV shows run storylines which strike a chord with people for whatever reason - people complain - why not just switch it off?

In this day and age though people will take offence at anything - we can't live our lives in fear of offending people.  Yes we can steer clear of the really bad ones and be careful about the context in which we use some words but at the end of the day we're all only human and there will always be people complaining.

I can remember the days when the word handicapped was considered less offensive than the term spastic.  Now both are considered offensive.

Somewhere along the way some people haven't been kept up to speed with these developments.  Whether that's by choice or not I do not know, but it seems to be a generational thing.  A generation can be bought up understanding that a word is merely a description rather than an offensive insult; therefore many mean no harm or offence.

 

It seems to me that the word retard/retarded now only has one meaning.

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't know this, and it's a pity that the other meanings for the word AREN'T still in use as it would take away the power of the (now intentional) term being used as an insult.

 

The English language is ever evolving and as Yogi pointed out earlier, sometimes words get hi-jacked and turned on their heads, so to speak.

Dame Ann - I think words are different to people all over the country - I'm sorry if it offends - I just see the word 'retarded' as a bit slow - I don't see it as derogatory or anything to do with handicap or disabilities etc. etc.

 

 

 

Actually I'm gonna step out of this thread too ...............i've got into hot water before for using wrong terminology. TBH - the wrong choice of word (at the wrong time - what's currently offensive or not) and where yo live in the country and being aware of the latest offensive word. FGS!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

Words are words - it's really not about labels it's how you treat people. God help us if we're not up with the local chavs and the latest word that they've chosen to use to be offensive!

 

I popped back to say, I am not offended by those that were not offended by it...if you get my drift. Me personally, if I know a word as the slightest chance of offence I hope I would try not use it...and Holmes used it and he knows darn well it's not something that rolls of your tongue. didn't watch it myself, I'd rather fry my head in a pan of hot lard  

Eamon Holmes is a donkey.

Words...........

 

"You look like a fairy"

 

Good or bad?

Have you any idea how offensive that is? My Dobbin is sobbing on my shoulder here - I've no idea how I'll console him.

 

I'm off to call OFCOM!

Neither.........an expression 

Yes, sack him immidiately... not only is he all round offensive but he is deeply irritating too

*baffled*

I've got nothing against Eamon Holmes and actually enjoy the banter between him and Ruth.

Maybe it's because Mr Blizz and I are similar, and can have a joke at the other's expense.

 

Anyway, the point is, this word has been offensive for many, many years. I'm 46 and don't remember ever using it, so I assume it has been on 'the list' since I was very young. I can clearly remember the time when the Spastic Society changed its name to Scope, because kids, or older people, were using the word Spastic as a derogatory term.

 

It's not a case of keeping up with what the 'local chavs' are using (  actually, I find the 'chav' word pretty offensive, as it is often used to describe a certain 'class' of people, as opposed to certain behaviours), but knowing full well that certain words have been used to hurt and humiliate people who often have no voice, or very little power in society. The cases we have read about, quite recently, of learning disabled people being targeted in their own homes and communities, ending in tragedy, or a life of complete misery, should give us all a wake-up call. Words are very powerful!

 

I understand what you were saying, Ditty, about young kids using these words amongst their friends, without thinking of the consequences, but I'll carry on explaining fully to my son why it is so wrong and so damaging. He went through a stage of starting to use the word 'gay' with its latest derogatory meaning, but by making him think about how he would feel if he was gay and heard it used in that way, and explaining what the awful consequences could be, I'm pretty sure I got through to him. I certainly haven't heard him say it and have also noticed that none of his friends seem to be saying it. Maybe, if enough parents do it, we can bring up kids who understand the power of words.

Depends if the person concerned is wearing a fairy outfit? 

Blizz...    I too have explained to the kids why using the word gay in that way is wrong.    They get it, Ickles bessie mate is a young gay lad (who she supported in 'coming out' to his parents & the rest of the school)...   so she gets it too.    Prob is, even her friend uses the word this way.   They don't call people gay...   they call things gay.    e.g. "have you see so & so's new phone" "yeah, thats so gay"...       We've rowed about this so many times, her insisting that in the way they use it is has nothing to do with being homophobic, me counter arguing that on the surface maybe not, but the bottom line is that they are saying things that are naff are gay... ergo... gay is bad.     If I hear either of the kids say it now I just snap at them not to say it.   But I do feel its a battle I have lost.   Its not from lack of trying though. 

To be fair the word was hijacked by us of all sexualities to define homosexualists and that has been the true meaning of the word amongst everyone for decades. I'm old enough to remember the word meaning something else. Now, in a bold salute to bricolage youngsters are hijacking the word for their own ends. Our English language operates in this way.

True, but going from a word with positive connotations (gay - meaning carefree) to a description of homosexual people, did not necessarily cause offence. Homosexuals could embrace the word, even while society, as a whole, was largely homophobic and the act itself was still illegal.

 

Although great strides have been made in fighting homophobia, in some parts of the world, there are still huge problems and still teenagers taking their own lives, even in countries where it is no longer illegal and would seem to be accepted, by the majority of the population, as perfectly normal. To now live in a society where the word you use to define your sexuality has become a derogatory word, not just used to describe objects as 'lame', or 'rubbish', but also used to describe people in such a way, can only make things worse, imo.

 

The same could be said of words such as the N word, which, after all, was merely a description of people with black skin, the word Spastic, which described the effect on muscles of the medical condition, and, indeed, the word Retarded, meaning delayed. As soon as words such as these begin to be used pejoratively, then those people normally described by these words, begin to suffer, more so than they suffer already.