I got my tail good and yanked by a friend the other day. I used the term “lame” as in “that was a lame excuse”. She pointed out in no uncertain terms that lame means “unable to walk normally”. So of course I looked it up (1) and found the above definition. I also found another definition, this from the Urban Dictionary: just plain stupid, un-original, or lifeless (2). This is the way I had used the word.Now I didn’t and don’t want to get into a pissing contest with her for a couple of reasons. She is a published author and knows more about using words than I ever will. She has MS and is lame in the first sense and crippled in the same sense. Not handicapped, mind, just crippled by MS. Another reason is I respect her opinion and agree that the creep of meaning can lead to ugly connotations for words. “Gay” once meant happy, then crept to meaning “homosexual” and then became pejorative, so now when you say you had a gay time, what exactly do you mean?
You see, being Gay (also a girl’s name) is OK to be as in “He is a Gay”. But saying something is “Gay” can be an insult depending on what you mean and even who said it. Confused yet?
My point is this: over time, the meaning of many words has changed. Some end up keeping one, two, three or more meanings while others simply lose one and gain another. During the transition from one to another there is sometimes some dangerous language to navigate. And not all of us are that good at navigating. I apologized for the inappropriate use of the word “lame” and promised to be good. My other point is this: words change meaning all the time and not everyone is aware of the prejudice that sometimes comes with the changes.
So here is my recommendation: Don’t use words that have double meanings, especially those that might hurt someone inadvertently. Many words have multiple meanings, and that is the problem. Selecting the word and using it correctly may be impossible, since meaning remains firmly in the brain of the beholder. After all, we all need an asshole, and most of us have an asshole, but none of us want to be an asshole. See?
1. Google definitions
2. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lame
Image: http://www.archiedunlop.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/uranus1.jpg
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Double meanings and evolving vocabulary are the driving force of a trillion dollar justice system (justice business), brainwashing by religion with their interpretations and dangerous translations (bible, Koran…), and last but not least political power. The meaning can also change by as simple as changes of tone, or ethnicity. So, to get around it, we change the spoken language to the famous N-word, or F-word. We start assigning letters or symbols to replace the words that are offensive. I find this complexity of language very amusing. I speak 4 different languages and I don’t think that I am an expert in any of them, but from my personal experience words like F-word are part of the vocabulary just as any other word that I just typed on here. I guess that’s where the fake and illusive freedom of speech comes from. The freedom we have as long as we speak the right language. Unfortunately, not only money, or fame but also the language defines us and classifies individuals into groups. I had my fair share of amusement by watching changes of facial features when I would alter my speeches at conferences. In the end, I think I would rather be lame, an asshole, and gay as long as I can keep my individualism and my language. It seems to me that people are becoming very sensitive, very short-fused, always investigating for hidden meanings (right or wrong) and taking everything literal. Those people are such an easy targets for comedy and amusement.
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