Comment by GlickWick

4 hours ago

The origin of the word is a bit darker than its meaning, unfortunately. It comes from the Greek word for Uterus. You can kinda fill in the blanks from there as to how it came to its modern meaning.

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GlickWick

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palmotea  4 hours ago

> The origin of the word is a bit darker than its meaning, unfortunately.

We should all just stop speaking. The origin of too many words is problematic. Just think of how many were coined by racists and misogynists!

  • GlickWick  3 hours ago

    Nah, that's knee-jerk. Don't have a particular horse in this race, just explaining why some people might react this way to the word if they're aware of the history behind it. We as a society can determine whether or not we like certain words in our vernacular.

    • palmotea  3 hours ago

      My point is: who cares about the origin of the word? IMHO, no one should. Unless the word used in a way meant to offend, it's fine. Otherwise you're kind of cultivating offense and over-sensitivity, helping it survive and grow, which helps no one.

      2 replies →

annodomini2019  4 hours ago

Let's add dumb, lame, sinister, grandfathered in while we're at it if we're litigating roots nobody thinks about on a day-to-day basis...