I understand completely, and no, I do not use that word, or 'gay', etc, as derogatory terms. I try to be conscious of the words I use and hear.
Which, on a side note, may mean that I'm a bit too sensitive to stuff like people saying 'bless you' when I sneeze - my first thought is always 'no thanks', because the implied assumption is that regardless of my religion, I want their deity's blessing foisted off on me. The term itself goes back to the superstition that when you sneeze, part of your soul leaves your body(and when you yawn, devils can enter you) and blessing you is a way to put it back, so it's not a ~bad~ sentiment, but, like I said. Too senstive. *sheepish* Probably doesn't help that, off all the languages I know, English is the only one to use 'bless you' instead of some version of 'health/health to you'.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-04-02 09:07 pm (UTC)Which, on a side note, may mean that I'm a bit too sensitive to stuff like people saying 'bless you' when I sneeze - my first thought is always 'no thanks', because the implied assumption is that regardless of my religion, I want their deity's blessing foisted off on me. The term itself goes back to the superstition that when you sneeze, part of your soul leaves your body(and when you yawn, devils can enter you) and blessing you is a way to put it back, so it's not a ~bad~ sentiment, but, like I said. Too senstive. *sheepish* Probably doesn't help that, off all the languages I know, English is the only one to use 'bless you' instead of some version of 'health/health to you'.