英美文化：英语中那些含有歧视义的词语

　　同志

　　Once, this word meant 'happy' -think Victorian children dancing prettily around a maypole。

　　这个词的本义是“愉悦的”，你可以想象维多利亚时代的小孩儿在五朔节(每年的5月1日，是北半球的春季节日)花柱欢快起舞的场景。

　　Now, the common word for 'homosexual'can also be used to mean 'pathetic'. Many young people (this is often a millennial thing) still have a hangover from the playground and utter sentences such as 'that's so gay' - meaning 'that's lame'。

　　如今，“gay”既可以表示“同性恋”(homosexual)，也可以表示“可悲”(pathetic)。许多年轻人(20世纪开始)在夜场宿醉之后仍然会说“that's so gay”，意为“太逊了”。

　　Use this instead: C**p

　　替换词语：C**p

　　2、Retarded

　　迟钝

　　‘Retard’ as a verb originally meant to ‘delay or hold back in terms of progress or development’。

　　作为一个动词，“retard”本义是“拖延进度”。

　　But the noun is used as an offensive term used to describe a person with a mental disability, or to suggest that someone is being stupid。

　　但作为名词，它也可以是贬义，指某个人智力残疾或暗示其很笨。

　　Use this instead: Twit。

　　替换词语：Twit。

　　3、Rapey

　　强奸的

　　It’s OK to use the words ‘rape’or ‘rapist’ in context. But the invented adjective ‘rapey’ is an unwelcome knock-on effect。

　　如果有上下文，我们是可以使用“rape”(强奸)或者“rapist”(强奸犯)的。但是，由此引申出来的形容词“rapey”却是不合时宜的。

　　Typically it's used by people to describe someone who might look like a rapist，is acting in a lecherous way, or a potentially sinister situation ("that alley is really rapey"). It might sound harmless, but it can trivialise a serious crime。

　　通常来讲，repay主要用来指那些行为淫荡，看起来像强奸犯的人，或者指某种可能引发犯罪的场合(例如：那条小巷很“rapey”)。尽管可能听起来没什么恶意，但却可能引发重大犯罪事件。

　　Use this instead: Creepy。

　　替换词语：Creepy

　　4、Spastic

　　麻痹患者

　　As with ‘retard’ this term is often used to describe people with disabilities, in a derogatory way。

　　跟“retard”一样，“spastic”经常用来指那些身有残疾的人，暗含贬义。

　　It was in the 1990s that it started to be employed as an insult, mostly to describe someone clumsy: such as‘you spaz’ or ‘you’re so spastic.’

　　上个世纪90年代，“spastic”开始含有侮辱的意思，经常指某人很蠢，例如“you spaz“ 或者 “you’re so spastic”。

　　Such was the impact of this, that charity The Spastics Society changed its name to Scope in 1994,in an attempt say something more positive about disability。

　　受此影响，1994年，慈善机构“The Spastics Society”把自己的名字改成“Scope”，试图用更正面的词去表示残疾。

　　Use this instead: Clumsy

　　替换词语：Clumsy

　　5、Paedo

　　恋童癖者

　　‘Paedo’ is a shortened term for a‘paedophile’ – but it’s also often used as a joke. For example, if a guy has a younger girlfriend. Or if someone takes their young nieces and nephews to the park。

　　“Paedo”是单词“paedophile”的缩写，但有时也用作玩笑。例如，某人有个年轻的女朋友或者某人带自己小侄子小侄女去公园。

　　Making light of such a horrendous offence is something that needs to stop。

　　然而，我们不应当随随便便开这种恶意的玩笑。

　　Use this instead: Just don’t -unless you’re describing a real child sex offender。

　　替换词语：不要使用，除非你要用它指那些儿童性侵犯者。