Who cares? It's their problem.

@octavious - our language is constantly evolving there was a time when spastic, imbecile, lunatic etc were medical or educational terms. One cannot govern how a language evolves, to do so would be foolish and possibly dangerous.

"queer, fag, faggot, ass etc" have all been taken and abused. Yes. So what?
They only demean themselves.

@Maniac: Try living in China.

@ maniac

It is not I who wishes to stop people using words. I am well aware that trying to stop Yanks developing unfortunate new meanings for words is fighting a losing battle. If, however, they then try to stop me from using a word because of the alternative meaning they have given it I will do whatever I can to resist them.

And I'll be right by your side.

@octavious and timer - you can resist all you want but when the meaning of words changes it is non-sensible to continue with the older meaning if that causes confusion. A doctor could quite correctly call someone a spastic but if the patient is offended by this because of his understanding of the word, it serves no purpose for the doctor to fight to retain he original meaning. I think there are better battles out there to fight.

So what exactly does the doctor say?
"Sorry for calling you a spastic, though you are . . . Ok, Tommy, let's just say you're fucked. Happy now?"

@Maniac: Find a better battle. My sword and shield are burnished.

My pony and bow are always pointing in the direction of the setting sun.

Using gypped is like teens saying things are gay. Sounds perfectly innocent, but they are both hurtful uses of the word. Gypped is short for gypsied and reflects the old stereotype that gypsies are thieves as expressed in Cher's song.

I've only ever had attempts to steal my wallet twice in my life, and both times it was by gypsies in continental Europe. It's as if they don't consider theft as immoral. Gypsy camps in Britain are safer than most cities, but I wouldn't go near one in Europe if you paid me.

I believe American gypsies are more akin to the gypsies of Britain and Ireland than those of mainland Europe.

I used to hang out with the person who ran my university's LBGTQ office a lot (I worked in the same building and part of my job was doing rounds, and she was also in a couple of my classes), and according to her (I asked about the time the Q was added) it meant "Queer" which she went on to define, pretty interesting.

"Gender Queer" people aren't really 100% on what they are, either in terms of sexual preference or gender identity. They know that the typical societal path of birth gender and heterosexuality isn't quite for them, but they haven't figured out where to go from there. I suppose that "Questioning" could fit them too, so it might be from place to place. Questioning doesn't seem to convey the underlying discomfort that is implied by the Queer label, though.

@Octavious - it wouldn't surprise me if gypsies have as wide a moral compas as members of this site, which appears to be very wide. Could I just ask what hair colour the attempted thieves had, I have been assaulted twice by people with ginger hair and I'm starting to suspect there is a link.

@sacreddigits - According to the free online dictionary both are acceptable. In the uk we seem to use LGBT only.

Wow, I put the simple addition of a Q on the end of LGBT (thanks Putee, got it form you) and it generates all kinds of discussion over what it means? I thought everyone knew the Q stood for Queer as SD defined it.

LBGTQH:
H: Have a girlfriend, but I fancy her brother more.

Any more letters to add?

A quick google search reveals it can be either queer or questioning. Go figure.

Lucy's Brother Gives The Queer Head! That's easy to remember now.

^<*groans*>

Moving back to offensive words, the one that has caused be the most offensive (to the point that I have reacted with genuine anger and actively complained) was "customer".

To give the context, I was taking part in jury duty and at then end of my stint they gave us a "customer survey" to fill in. Not entirely sure why, but the red mist descended and "I am not your fucking customer!" was handed back to them on their form.

Nobody said you can't say this 'gives me gyp' Octavious, but whatever - prattle away about those damn Yanks and their corruption of the Queen's English, that'll distract people from your racial hatred of Romany on the basis of two events in your life.

I'll start caring about the sanctity of English when the British start giving one whit about offensive speech or racial abuse in general. Until then, cry me a river.

"Yes. So what?
They only demean themselves."

Oh christ, t-minus 2 minutes before we get the "sticks & stones" nursery rhyme.

Maniac wins the thread. Octavious is exposed for being an ogre. The end.

Queer is used more often by the more progressive/radical elements of the movement. Conservative gay rights groups don't use Q, heck groups like HRC don't even really recognize bi or trans rights, especially trans.

LOL! Customer survey? You didn't buy anything. Juror survey,OK. But customer survey is pretty fucking stupid.

Apparently new letters are added to the acronym pretty regularly, there are two Qs now (queer and questioning) and a few more letters, but I'm not sure which ones.

Yeah, according to Putin I've won the thread, do I get a gold fish?