Ditto. Including the arm twitch.
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She isn’t my go-to either but she is somebody who millions of people listen to so the positive here is HUGE.
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Here’s the thing, though, when you think of a spasm, has society conditioned you to envision the very …stereotypical… behavior that a person with cerebral palsy might display to the world?
In Britain, there was a clear connection: “Hi we’re the spastics society, and we purport to represent the people who have a gait like this…”
In the US, it’s known as CP, and “spasticity” is medical jargon.
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In the UK “smoke some fagsl” means smoke some cigarettes.
There’s lots of examples like these. Language isn’t immutable, and it’s important for folks to realize that meaning change - when those meanings are overtaken by bigots, it’s important to 1) call out that this is not ok, and 2) cease using the term.
It sucks to have to change your habitual use of a term, sure, but when people elsewhere no longer understand your meaning when you use it, falling back on “But it’s not a slur where I live” doesn’t really mean much. Additionally, I bet both meanings exist in the UK, anyway (or at the very least, someone in the UK hearing that term used in a bigoted way would understand it, which makes it clear it’s time for it to go.)
IMHO, you always prioritize not harming others in these situations.
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Thousands of words in the English language and it’s only assholes who insist they are allowed to keep using the ones the rest of us asked them not to. Repeatedly.
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I’m firmly convinced that being an asshole needlessly is the only way some folks can get the attention that they clearly crave.
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There’s definitely quite a lot of words that we use daily that have hurtful or hateful connotations, either now or in the recent past. Every now and then i do run into lists of words that have unsavory uses or origins and it serves as a useful reminder on how to best communicate with others
There’s loads of words but here’s a quick list:
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My brother has pretty severe cerebral palsy that’s profoundly affected his life and the lives of everyone around him.
It is in fact painful to hear artists and musicians use terms like that, however innocently. All the more painful when it’s someone you really look up to.
Good on her for making a very public and potentially consequential change.
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Yeah, even given my own exposure to the issue, I’ve only recently learned to be mindful of the words Lame and Dumb.
Improving isn’t something we just learn once and solve. It’s a Constant Goddamned Process, and I’m glad to still be learning.
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Until today, I never even realized the word was a slur. It wasn’t in my personal vernacular before, and now that I know it’s actively offensive to anyone, it never will be.
It costs me nothing to have the tinniest modicum of consideration for others in this way; not money, not time, nor even any energy.
That some people seem to so ardently want to say “whatever they want, whenever they want, and consequences be damned” speaks volumes to how severely their ‘core values’ must be lacking in actual value, IMO.
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Likewise, i do forget often about Lame and Dumb despite knowing about them. I’m sure there’s other words i need to be more conscious about not using. As you say it’s a process
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As befits a listicle, some of those are dubious.
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I’m sure, it was just a random pick but it serves as a good enough type of example on some words 
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Isn’t it a slur here too? My brother was in special ed and that was pretty much his name as far as his many bullies were concerned.
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Yeah, the term in the 90’s seemed to be used more to describe overly excited dorky behavior. Like when my friend jumped out of his seat in the middle of a movie theatre because the film made a joke that referenced a comic book story arc.
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I really don’t know why people find this very simple and easy thing to do so very fucking difficult.
I think you just answered your own question there, my friend.
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And that little factoid might be relevant to this discussion if a popular UK musician had a song lyric about cigarettes that a reasonable person might misinterpret as a homophobic slur.
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http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003020.html
commenting on Tiger Wood’s use of the phrase, back in 2006.
My theory is that both American and British speakers originally used “spaz” in a highly derogratory fashion, but as Americans used “spastic” less and less, the connections became less obvious, until it became a part of nineties slang of almost but not quite uncertain origin.
In the UK, the connection was continually reinforced by popular awareness of the Spastic society.
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