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There are many terms that minorities consider offensive, in the meantime I'll stick to the dictionary. When transvestites will be authorities in language matter

There are many terms that minorities consider offensive, in the meantime I'll stick to the dictionary. When transvestites will be authorities in language matters I'll change accordingly.

jlgreco 13y ago
Which dictionary? Yours is incomplete; knowing that, do you consult others? http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tranny http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tranny The word is a slur, and is considered such by many more than just the people it refers to. Though I suppose nobody can make you care.
- cliveowen 13y ago
  Since it seems to be that much of an issue for you guys, I edited to comment. That said, I don't see me switching from a celebrated English dictionary to the laughable Wikipedia anytime soon.
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    The laughable dictionary is, at least in this case, more accurate than your celebrated one. Weird, that. I hope you are not forgetting that English dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. You are going to continue having trouble using them if you make that mistake.
scott_s 13y ago
Dictionaries are more descriptive than prescriptive. That is, they describe words and how they are used; they do not determine what words are and how they are used. Given that dictionaries are also conservative by nature - slow to change - it is unwise to appeal to a dictionary to determine how people will feel when they hear a word.
- cliveowen 13y ago
  Short of asking any person how they feel about a given word I'll stick to the dictionary and people will have to adapt at my "slow to change" use of the language.
  - scott_s 13y ago
    We're telling you how this particular set of people are likely to react. It's fair if you did not know, and referred to the best source you could find (the dictionary). But now you have more data, and can adapt now. A natural response is that you can't do this for all words with all people. But you don't need to do that. Once you learn how people respond to a word, you can change. It's how we learned what to say and what not to say in different contexts - surely you didn't check the dictionary every time someone told you "That's not appropriate here."

There are many terms that minorities consider offensive, in the meantime I'll stick to the dictionary. When transvestites will be authorities in language matters I'll change accordingly.

jlgreco 13y ago

Which dictionary? Yours is incomplete; knowing that, do you consult others? http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tranny http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tranny The word is a slur, and is considered such by many more than just the people it refers to. Though I suppose nobody can make you care.

cliveowen 13y ago
Since it seems to be that much of an issue for you guys, I edited to comment. That said, I don't see me switching from a celebrated English dictionary to the laughable Wikipedia anytime soon.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  The laughable dictionary is, at least in this case, more accurate than your celebrated one. Weird, that. I hope you are not forgetting that English dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. You are going to continue having trouble using them if you make that mistake.

scott_s 13y ago

Dictionaries are more descriptive than prescriptive. That is, they describe words and how they are used; they do not determine what words are and how they are used. Given that dictionaries are also conservative by nature - slow to change - it is unwise to appeal to a dictionary to determine how people will feel when they hear a word.

cliveowen 13y ago
Short of asking any person how they feel about a given word I'll stick to the dictionary and people will have to adapt at my "slow to change" use of the language.
- scott_s 13y ago
  We're telling you how this particular set of people are likely to react. It's fair if you did not know, and referred to the best source you could find (the dictionary). But now you have more data, and can adapt now. A natural response is that you can't do this for all words with all people. But you don't need to do that. Once you learn how people respond to a word, you can change. It's how we learned what to say and what not to say in different contexts - surely you didn't check the dictionary every time someone told you "That's not appropriate here."