When I worked at my college paper, a co-worker was a 40-year old homosexual man. Since I was -- and am -- a young kid, I used gay as casual slang: "Man, that's so gay," "They're gay, I hate them. ..."
Well, without thinking about it, the topic of a certain fraternity came up, and I said, "fork them. They're gay." The dude says, "And what's wrong with that?" I turned around, said, "fork, Dude. I'm sorry, but that's something my generation says all the time. It has nothing to do with homosexuals ... at least not with me. ..."
He was totally cool with me and my terminology it after I explained it, but only me. I don't know, maybe he thought I was cute, but he understood I meant no malice. He would rip anyone else that threw it around because of their ignorance.
And my sister is retarded. Not at all like my brother it, but she's not playing with a full deck. I'm so used to it that I throw that term around like a red-headed step child.
It's all how the words are perceived. Some people are cool with the casual useage, and some are strung pretty tightly. But I don't see how it can come up in any form of journalism.
But Michael Irvin is retarded.
