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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / October 2004Idiot
Hi, Sometimes when I am driving, when I come across rude drivers I call them "idiot". They don't here it ofcourse. Other times, when my computer is doing something that I did not expect I call it "You idiot". Is calling someone "Idiot" (not on the face) a swear word? Is the usage of "Idiot" an offensive/swear word. If it is, then what would be a gentler word that I can use on the rude drivers and my computers? Thank you in advance.  SignatureSR castellan2004-mail@SPAMBUSTER.yahoo.com Please remove SPAMBUSTER to reply via email. > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > of "Idiot" an offensive/swear word. If it is, then what would be a > gentler word that I can use on the rude drivers and my computers? You should call them 'freaks'. Alan > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Is calling someone "Idiot" (not on the face) a swear word? No, not at all. > Is the usage > of "Idiot" an offensive/swear word. It is offensive. If it is, then what would be a > > gentler word that I can use on the rude drivers and my computers? "Cerebrally challenged" or "Asynaptic". > Thank you in advance. >Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >of "Idiot" an offensive/swear word. If it is, then what would be a >gentler word that I can use on the rude drivers and my computers? Intellectually challenged. SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk >>Hi, >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Intellectually challenged. English, in its many regional, class based, slang and other variations has thousands of insults which seek to cast doubt on the intelligence or competence of somebody or something. Few of these are actually considered 'swearwords' although many could earn you a punch on the nose (especially if you are right!). Idiot Moron Cretin (a medical term I believe) Drongo Numpty (quite a new one to me) Dummy fool pillock Imbecile stupid boy gormless child brainless ... addle pated (old fashioned, your brain has gone sour or rotted,) There are many, many more. I didn't even look in my thesaurus. What words have you heard or used? SignatureKeeper > >>Hi, > >> [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > There are many, many more. I didn't even look in my thesaurus. > What words have you heard or used? "Mongoloid," meaning a person with Down syndrome, was formerly used as a medical term but is now considered offensive and is used as a term of abuse much like those you list above. "Idiot," "moron," and "imbecile" are terms which were formerly used in psychology, but are no longer so used, at least in the United States. *The American Heritage Dictionary,* 4th ed., notes in the entry for these three words, "The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive." SignatureRaymond S. Wise Minneapolis, Minnesota USA E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com >>> Hi, >>> [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > There are many, many more. I didn't even look in my thesaurus. > What words have you heard or used? In Ireland teh word "eejit" is often used to refer to somebody who has been folish or is a fool. It's not particularly offensive, indeed according to the family legend my mother referred to my father using this term after their first meeting. It derives from an idiosyncratic pronunciation of "idiot". Regards, Einde O'Callaghan >>>> Hi, >>>> [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > >Regards, Einde O'Callaghan There are also some old words Poltroon Dolt Dullard Dunce Dunderhead Just thought of them whilst working on my new bathroom. I managed to set fire to the wire wool whilst plumbing and used them on myself! SignatureKeeper >>>>> Hi, >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] >Just thought of them whilst working on my new bathroom. I managed to >set fire to the wire wool whilst plumbing and used them on myself! Clot Nincompoop pea-brain bird-brain silly b******** Why do I know so many of theses words, Is it because people shout them at me? SignatureKeeper >>>>>> Hi, >>>>>> [quoted text clipped - 59 lines] > Why do I know so many of theses words, Is it because people shout them > at me? LOL! Regards, Einde O'Callaghan [...] > There are also some old words > > Poltroon ...is not synonymous with "idiot" - it means a coward. Will. >[...] >> There are also some old words [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >Will. I think that is right although I suspect that it is often used to cast aspersions on the competence of the victim. As I said before, I didn't look them up. SignatureKlerikos > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Is calling someone "Idiot" (not on the face) a swear word? Is the > usage of "Idiot" an offensive/swear word. If it is, then what would > be a gentler word that I can use on the rude drivers and my computers? > Thank you in advance. It's a good question, and like many good questions has no simple answer; except in this case "Just keep your mouth shut and keep out of trouble". To pick at random from the responses you've had so far, "fool" is very offensive in some places and fairly trivial in others. On the whole, there isn't one you can safely use when the person is listening. Even raising your eyes to Heaven and clicking your tongue quietly can get you a pair of black eyes in some situations. You can call yourself or your computer anything you like, though. Mike. In alt.usage.english Subba Rao <castellan2004-mail@spambuster.yahoo.com> wrote: > Sometimes when I am driving, when I come across rude drivers I call them > "idiot". They don't here it ofcourse. Other times, when my computer is > doing something that I did not expect I call it "You idiot". I have two subclasses of Idiot: 1. People who drive too slow on the freeway: "Slowmos" 2. People who jaywalk against traffic: "Brupids" (both brave and stupid). You are welcome to add them to your cursing repertoire. >In alt.usage.english Subba Rao <castellan2004-mail@spambuster.yahoo.com> wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >1. People who drive too slow on the freeway: "Slowmos" >2. People who jaywalk against traffic: "Brupids" (both brave and stupid). What do you identify as "against traffic"? I'm from the jaywalking capital of the US, New York, and thought I had seen everything until I got to Saigon. I saw people walk out into traffic facing it at an oblique angle. When they got to the center stripe they changed direction about ninety degrees right to face the opposite oncoming traffic and then calmly threaded their way through that. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Brian Wickham In alt.usage.english Brian Wickham <bwickham@no~spam.nyc.rr.com> wrote: > What do you identify as "against traffic"? Perpendicular to the direction my car is heading! :) >In alt.usage.english Brian Wickham <bwickham@no~spam.nyc.rr.com> wrote: > >> What do you identify as "against traffic"? > >Perpendicular to the direction my car is heading! :) To me (and someone will tell me If I am wrong) against traffic means in the opposite direction, " Against the flow of traffic". Perpendicular to the traffic flow would be "crossing the traffic" or just crossing the road. SignatureKeeper >>In alt.usage.english Brian Wickham <bwickham@no~spam.nyc.rr.com> wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >to the traffic flow would be "crossing the traffic" or just crossing the >road. Now I'm confused. "Jaywalking against traffic" is walking head on into traffic? The original description was of someone "jaywalking against traffic". If the purpose of jaywalking is to get across the street while vehicular traffic still has the right of way then walking head on into traffic doesn't qualify as jaywalking as it won't get anyone anywhere except down the road. And no one needs to wade into traffic to do what can be done on the side of the road. Brian Wickham >>>In alt.usage.english Brian Wickham <bwickham@no~spam.nyc.rr.com> wrote: >>> [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >anyone anywhere except down the road. And no one needs to wade into >traffic to do what can be done on the side of the road. I had a perfectly clear picture initially, but now I'm getting confuseder and confuseder. I visualised someone facing towards the oncoming traffic and walking diagonally across the road, still looking towards each lane of traffic as they cross it, then reaching the central intersection, turning through 90 degrees, and repeating the procedure as they cross the second carriageway. Am I wrong? SignatureKaty Jennison spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ In alt.english.usage on Thu, 30 Sep 2004 21:00:46 +0100 Wood Avens <woodavens@askjennison.com> posted: >I had a perfectly clear picture initially, but now I'm getting >confuseder and confuseder. I visualised someone facing towards the >oncoming traffic and walking diagonally across the road, still looking >towards each lane of traffic as they cross it, then reaching the >central intersection, turning through 90 degrees, and repeating the >procedure as they cross the second carriageway. Am I wrong? I think you're clever. I would have never thought to do it that way. I go straight across, constantly turning to the side to see if I'm about to be run over. Maybe if I had thought of your method, I wouldn't have gotten two broken legs and a cracked skull 10 years ago. (just kidding) s/ meirman If you are emailing me please say if you are posting the same response. Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years Indianapolis, 7 years Chicago, 6 years Brooklyn NY 12 years Baltimore 20 years In alt.english.usage on Thu, 30 Sep 2004 19:05:51 GMT Brian Wickham <bwickham@NO~SPAM.nyc.rr.com> posted: >>>In alt.usage.english Brian Wickham <bwickham@no~spam.nyc.rr.com> wrote: >>> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >into traffic? The original description was of someone "jaywalking >against traffic". I've never heard of jaywalking against traffic. Jaywalking in traffic or when there is a lot of traffic I have heard of. "Against traffic" means to me, for example, driving south in the north-bound lanes. OR driving opposite to the direction of most of the traffic, for example driving into town in the evening when most of the rush hour traffic is driving out of town. So if someone who lives downtown gets a job in the suburbs, he might say, "At least I'm commuting against traffic, or against the traffic." I think it's used that way. > If the purpose of jaywalking is to get across the >street while vehicular traffic still has the right of way then walking [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Brian Wickham s/ meirman If you are emailing me please say if you are posting the same response. Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years Indianapolis, 7 years Chicago, 6 years Brooklyn NY 12 years Baltimore 20 years - Mooncalf - Ignoramus - Imbecile - Halfwit - Dunce - Cretin - Dimwit - Nimrod - Dolt - Blockhead - Airhead - Simpleton - Nincompoop - Chowderhead However, I wouldn't be concerned with offending people who can't hear you, much less an inanimate object. -Ben > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Thank you in advance. >- Mooncalf >- Ignoramus [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] >> castellan2004-mail@SPAMBUSTER.yahoo.com >> Please remove SPAMBUSTER to reply via email. Nimrod? SignatureKeeper [...] >> - Nimrod [...] > Nimrod? Yes, strange, isn't it? It's now a quite ordinary insult among British yoof. I imagine it's because most youngsters don't hear or read the Bible, so when somebody _did_ hear it (probably as the name of a type of AWACS aircraft) the way was open for its adoption because it actually _does_ sound insulting. "Nim" sounds sort of feeble (we have "niminy-piminy"), and "rod" suggests the penis. Compare, perhaps, "dipstick", which is also now a British insult. Mike. "Mike Lyle" <mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote in news:2s8ae4F1h00vdU1@uni- berlin.de: > [...] >>> - Nimrod [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Mike. Nimrod means 'hunter', as far as I know! :-) Andrea > "Mike Lyle" <mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote in > news:2s8ae4F1h00vdU1@uni- berlin.de: [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Nimrod means 'hunter', as far as I know! :-) Read the post you're replying to, eh? Mike. > "Mike Lyle" <mike_lyle_uk@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote in news:2s8ae4F1h00vdU1@uni- > berlin.de: [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Nimrod means 'hunter', as far as I know! :-) > Andrea I see that www.onelook.com is now including Evan Morris's *The Word Detective* among those references it searches. Morris says at http://www.word-detective.com/100699.html#assassinnimrod that the word had been used mockingly for many years before it was used by Bug Bunny in the 1940s. He says that it "has been used as a simple synonym for 'hunter' in English since the early 1700s." However, there are dictionaries in which it is not given as simply meaning "hunter": In the *Encarta World English Dictionary,* North American ed., it is defined as "*hunter:* any skillful or enthusiastic hunter ( _literary_ )," in the *Compact Oxford English Dictionary* it is defined as "a skilful hunter," and in the AHD4 it is defined as "a person expert in or devoted to hunting." SignatureRaymond S. Wise Minneapolis, Minnesota USA E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com I am puzzled by posted replies to earlier messages that ignore later posts and often offer the same answers or suggestions that have come before. It would appear that some people are not seeing all the posts. I am tempted to say "If you can't see this, please let me know." but how much use would that be? SignatureKeeper | I am puzzled by posted replies to earlier messages that ignore | later posts and often offer the same answers or suggestions | that have come before. | It would appear that some people are not seeing all the posts. Many people still work Usenet offline and so may synchronise with the servers only once or twice a day. | I am tempted to say | "If you can't see this, please let me know." | but how much use would that be? About as much use as - a chocolate teapot - a chocolate fireguard - a politician in a crisis - contraceptives in a nunnery (Further suggestions are left as an exercise for the reader.) Owain >| I am puzzled by posted replies to earlier messages that ignore >| later posts and often offer the same answers or suggestions [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >Many people still work Usenet offline and so may synchronise with the >servers only once or twice a day. Also, the way usenet messages are distributed, they do not necessarily arrive in the order in which they were sent. Several people may fire off replies before seeing the other replies just because of the distribution time- usually at least minutes. Sometimes (perhaps a few percent of the time) a given message won't arrive at all to a given server. >| I am tempted to say >| "If you can't see this, please let me know." [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >(Further suggestions are left as an exercise for the reader.) >Owain Tits on a bull. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001332.html Best regards, Spehro Pefhany Signature"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com hi " Subba Rao" I think the word " Idiot" per se doesnt carry any connotation of rudeness. The given definition in the dictionary says: "a silly or foolish person." I think it is the way "Idiot" is uttered, the tone & manner that accompany the word being spew out. If you try saying the word out in a meek & reserved manner, will you still sound rude? You will sound amusing instead. So a gentler substitute? Why not, "You silly fellow" what say you Rao? > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Thank you in advance. > I think the word " Idiot" per se doesnt carry any connotation > of rudeness. The given definition in the dictionary says: "a > silly or foolish person." I'm afraid it does. If you were speaking technically of people of low intelligence, you would use a technical term. There are no professionals whose job is to deal with 'idiots'. They may deal with 'retarded' people, or 'people with learning difficulties'. In non-technical language, you might say "X isn't very bright". 'Idiot' can only be an insult. > I think it is the way "Idiot" is uttered, the tone & manner > that accompany the word being spew out. > > If you try saying the word out in a meek & reserved manner, > will you still sound rude? Yes. Of course, rudeness between friends may only be humorous banter, but it's still rudeness - otherwise it wouldn't be funny. SignatureMark Barratt Budapest |
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