Being 14 is not an excuse for speaking to me that way.

[Marmalady]

Of course, in the UK you have those cool Christmas or party crackers (for those here in the US not familiar, they're like wrapped rolls of cardboard, you pull them and they make a loud snap, and there's a prize inside).

Now that's a surprise - are they not well-known in the US then? I would have thought (I don't know why) that you would have had them bigger and better and for far more occasions than we do... that's intended as a compliment by the way...

[Red_Dazes]

A bit off topic....buuuuut.... pictures when you get the ring please ^_^

[hinakiba777]

I'm preparing now for Halloween. I'm going to spread glitter all over my body and go as a Twilight vampire. My boyfriend's going topless so he can be a werewolf.

Oh Empryss I love you!

I lent a friend a novel where the "vampires" could go out in the sun, but it weakened them. So they normally just went out at night, to avoid the problem. The "vampires" also had metalic colored eyes (Blue with Silver, Green with Silver, Brown with Gold). After reading the book, my friend point out that I work Night Shift, I'm pale, my incissors are sharp, and my eyes are blue with golden rings around the pupil. He made many jokes about me being a vampire.

So I lent him the first book in the series where the main character's rival told the police that the main character was a vampire. This was true, but the rival still ended up in an institution for mental illness thanks to his claims. My friend stopped making the jokes.

[Stryker One]

That's gay

I'm saving up for an engagement ring for my girl too, and she's trying to get one for me. <3

Seriously, does she reeeally think she's fooling anyone?

Ouch, does that make lesbian engagements generally twice as expensive?

Also, here's what's gay:

http://current.com/shows/infomania/thats-gay/

[Tama]

It's a bit late for that fear....

[Merriweather]

I'm interested to know that - here in the UK, to refer to someone (or something) as a 'cracker' actually denotes the opposite, to say that someone is a cracker means they're very good looking. Or we might say 'that was a cracking meal we had last night' - thank heavens I didn't use it on here before finding out...

Of course, in the UK you have those cool Christmas or party crackers (for those here in the US not familiar, they're like wrapped rolls of cardboard, you pull them and they make a loud snap, and there's a prize inside). Hence the nice positive connotation. Here in the US, it refers to the whips the overseers cracked on slave plantations.

I love word derivations, and there are so many that people often use and don't even think about. I grew up with family who always used the phrase "jew them down" when talking about making a bargain - I swear, it didn't even occur to me til I was in my teens what the phrase actually meant. Wasn't til I lived in Europe that I realized being "gyped" as a term for being conned or not getting your money's worth was a slur to gypsies. And that welshing on a debt (not paying what's owed) was a slur to the Welsh.

Let's just hope that the "that's gay" connotations get stopped before it gets really ingrained into the language.

[Marmalady]

'Cracker' is defined in the dictionary as derogatory, so I could supposedly go-after someone for calling me that

I'm interested to know that - here in the UK, to refer to someone (or something) as a 'cracker' actually denotes the opposite, to say that someone is a cracker means they're very good looking. Or we might say 'that was a cracking meal we had last night' - thank heavens I didn't use it on here before finding out...

[EvilEmpryss]

Guest= Oh, so that's why you're, like, vampircally pale?
Me=.....

I'm preparing now for Halloween. I'm going to spread glitter all over my body and go as a Twilight vampire. My boyfriend's going topless so he can be a werewolf.

[ShootMePlease]

I'm mortified by the way some kids act anymore. Not surprised. Mortified. I admit I wasn't Polly Purebred but I never acted the way some of these kids do. Whatever happened to respect and decency ?

On a side note, congrats on your upcoming engagement, Rugsrat !!

[Magpie]

While I agree with correcting kids for saying inappropriate things, no matter what their age, I do feel that it's important to get less offended when someone who's too young to understand what they're saying says something inappropriate. When did 14-year-olds start falling into that category? I expect my girls starting at 8-10 to be able to watch what they say, and to avoid saying things that could be offensive. You don't have to think that there's something wrong with it, you just need to understand that some people would be offended, and that's enough reason to not say it.

[C. Cecil Ivanish]

People comment on my pallor a lot. When I set them straight they get really uncomfortable and leave. No one ever apologizes. I'm not sure if they think I'll be offended or they think that my anemia is contagious. o.O

I don't know.
I'm personally guilty of a similar faux-pas (with a friend who is hard of hearing).
When I apologised to him for having hurt his feelings (he hadn't heard me talking to him from behind his back and I asked him, in a good-natured way, "Oi Fab, are you deaf?" only to be shot by a "Actually yes, I am") he seemed even more insulted. He told me something like "It is not a handicap or anything, I lead a very normal life, you don't have to be sorry for me". Pointing out that I was not sorry for him being hard of hearing but for having joked about it, he kept complaining... so I am usually pretty careful about apologising - and even more about any possible faux-pas, to be honest.

[grokit]

I'm saving up for an engagement ring for my girl too, and she's trying to get one for me. <3

Seriously, does she reeeally think she's fooling anyone?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning...3Kruger_effect <-- As posted by someone else on here recently.

[hinakiba777]

I actually got into a heated argument with someone because I berated them for saying saying something was "gay" in a negative way, but then later said something was "lame". The argument ended when my with cerbal palsy sat down and said, "I'm on Hina's side here. Being Lame is pretty cruddy." And then we all laughed, but the other person huffed off. I'm bad for playing the the word lame. I once said, "Your argument is lame because it's invalid. And an invalid is what one calls a person who is lame." I have a lot of friends with disabilities and they enjoy my humour.

But yeah, people shouldn't make excuses for the stupid stuff their kids say. Either set them straight, or make excuses. Hypocrisy does not work.

On a similar but different topic, a guest the other evening asked me about working night shift. I informed him that I work only nights, so I don't get out much during the day.

Guest= Oh, so that's why you're, like, vampircally pale?
Me=....I have anemia.

His girlfriend gasped, grabbed him arm, and dragged him away. Even down the hall I could hear her say, "You idiot, she has a blood disease!!!"

People comment on my pallor a lot. When I set them straight they get really uncomfortable and leave. No one ever apologizes. I'm not sure if they think I'll be offended or they think that my anemia is contagious. o.O

[Mr. Anubite]

In short: I don't give a shit how old your spawn is. You don't talk that way.

Edited for accuracy.

Regardless of circumstances, you don't say things like that.

[Mike Taylor]

That's like my argument with coworkers on racial slurs; technically, 'Cracker' is defined in the dictionary as derogatory, so I could supposedly go-after someone for calling me that the same as if someone used any-other racially-charged word against someone of another ethnicity. But nobody seems to believe me.

That's because "Cracker" is also the Florida term for a cattle ranch hand or a cowboy. It's actually a mark of pride for Floridians in that profession whether they're black, white or latino.