(no subject)

[labellementeuse]

What's the proper response on TradeMe when you leave someone *very polite* neutral feedback for items that were frankly not as you expected, including the phrase "seller was handicapped by not knowing X", and the seller responds by flipping out and saying "DO YOU NO WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE HANDICAPPED? I DON'T TAKE THAT LIGHTLY. DON'T TRADE WITH ME AGAIN."? (I ended up apologising - but I'm not sure how I could have phrased that in a way that doesn't offer an insult - that was the most neutral phrasing I could come up with. The closest synonym to handicapped in this context is "struggled with" and frankly that seems nasty to me.) Am I completely wrong? Are people who talk about golf handicaps being insensitive? Can the word handicapped no longer be used without presenting an insult? (I mean - I am usually totally onboard with changing meanings of words and, for example, find the "that's so gay" construction offensive as well as puerile. But I had felt that handicapped in the context I used it in retains its original meaning.)

Comments

[dubiously.livejournal.com]

The only other option I can think of would be ignorance, but people tend to flip out over that, too, even when it's used in the literal context.

Beyond this, I wouldn't worry about it. No matter how hard you try to be diplomatic, someone somewhere (especially on the internet; yay for anonymity) will find a way to be offended by your words.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

people tend to flip out over that, too, even when it's used in the literal context.

Right - handicapped seems very neutral to me in this context, where ignorance and so forth are a little nasty.

Yeah, you know, I try to relax, but a lifelong committment to The Right Words sets me back. :P