![there there](http://www.familyhistoryresearchengland.co.uk/uploads/1/0/3/1/103116848/sheffield-wide-from-meersbrook_orig.jpg)
It was re-recorded with the lyrics changed to "let's get it started in here". Calling someone with a mental handicap a retard is apparently so highly offensive that a popular song called "let's get retarded in here", meaning to have a very energetic party, was heavily criticised in the USA. That term has itself fallen out of favour even amongst those in the mental development field. The general public unfortunately only associates it with "mental retardation". Chances are you won't want to use the word often outside of a medical or biological context but if you happen to be a marine biologist talking to a bunch of non-marine biologists the term might arise. This is despite the beautiful saying "the eye is the window to the soul" when two lovers stare into each others' pupillary sphincter (the ring of muscle that opens and closes the pupil). Due to the anus having a sphincter that is its most common understanding. Sphincter means "a ring of muscles used to open or close a bodily orifice". Be prepared for odd looks if walking past Nelson's Column (a monument in London) you say loudly, "Look at Nelson's big erection." It is often shortened to fag, also insulting, but that word can also mean cigarette.Įrection is seldom used to mean "a tall structure or building" nowadays and instead people will more quickly associate it with an erect penis or, much less often, clitoris. It is (sadly) known almost only as a very insulting word for homosexuals whereas it used to mean only a bundle of sticks tied together for burning.
![there there](https://simkl.net/episodes/21/219726cb8d37180e_w.jpg)
(I've just counted 21, and a few are multiple related words, but that's fair enough.)įaggot is an uncommon term now that people aren't so much gathering their own wood to burn. Your question is quite broad as there are a multitude of words so I'm going to stop at 20 as they come to mind. Queer is far less popularly used to refer to homosexuality so the association is much less strong. However, in practise you can more likely use queer with its non-sexual meaning than you can use gay simply because gay is far and away the more common of the words. They should be able to utter a phrase like, "Come with me and let us gayly prance along the promenade" without anyone looking at them queerly. Just as queer was taken as very derogatory by homosexuals and was "reclaimed" by the homosexual community, English speakers should reclaim their right to use gay and queer in non-homosexual contexts.