Az; RomPol & Anglo-Saxon Polytheism

"etymologynerd" is at it again and this time i do feel i have to say something. the disability advocates have it covered on addressing the impact, but there's also a serious problem with the linguistics.

in a video shared on may 16, adam aleksic begins by saying: "i think we have to accept the fact that the 'r-word' [retard/retarded] is permanently coming back and it's functionally changed meanings to no longer directly refer to disabled people."

this first sentence alone betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of language change in several points.

this word never went away. what we're seeing now is an attempt at re-normalization by people who sense that they will not be socially punished by openly using this term.

we actually don't have to "accept" its return to mainstream use. for decades, disability advocates have worked to inform the public of the harm caused by casual use of this term. the harm has not disappeared, and neither will this advocacy and its impacts.

now i'm just mad. how tf does it NOT refer to disabled people? the entire point of a pejorative term is that it negatively invokes comparison to a person, group, etc. the assertion that the r-word has changed meanings is categorically false. at most, its primary context has changed from clinical to casually pejorative, but the insult fundamentally rests upon the original reference.

he goes on to refer to the "euphemism treadmill," another concept he misrepresents by extending the metaphor to say that terms which have been sufficiently distanced from their original reference are no longer pejorative. to quote: "...once we sufficiently distance a word from its historical usage, it stops taking on the same offensive power and just becomes colloquial instead."

which... what? what the fuck is he talking about? the words he uses as examples – idiot, imbecile, and moron – are definitely still offensive, if perhaps less impactful. "just becomes colloquial instead" is a nonsense phrase. are offensive words not colloquial? the only english word that comes to mind as having changed so much in definition as to no longer be offensive is "nice," which has been shifting in meaning for more than 700 years and was never a weaponized clinical term.

he ends by saying, "it is undeniably true that the people who are afraid to say the r-word right now are going to get old and die out, while younger generations keep saying it with no knowledge of where it came from." again, fundamentally misunderstanding language change in society over time. it rests on the assumption that we're all going to start or re-start using this slur and never have a conversation about its harms, which just completely ignores both the abovementioned disability advocacy and the fact that people tell each other not to use offensive words. you think i'm just not gonna teach my kids that using slurs is bad??

the whole video is devoid of both empathy and an understanding of long-term semantic change.

"etymologynerd" is at it again and this time i do feel i have to say something. the disability advocates have it covered on addressing the impact, but there's also a serious problem with the linguistics.

in a video shared on may 16, adam aleksic begins by saying: "i think we have to accept the fact that the 'r-word' [retard/retarded] is permanently coming back and it's functionally changed meanings to no longer directly refer to disabled people."

this first sentence alone betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of language change in several points.

this word never went away. what we're seeing now is an attempt at re-normalization by people who sense that they will not be socially punished by openly using this term.

we actually don't have to "accept" its return to mainstream use. for decades, disability advocates have worked to inform the public of the harm caused by casual use of this term. the harm has not disappeared, and neither will this advocacy and its impacts.

now i'm just mad. how tf does it NOT refer to disabled people? the entire point of a pejorative term is that it negatively invokes comparison to a person, group, etc. the assertion that the r-word has changed meanings is categorically false. at most, its primary context has changed from clinical to casually pejorative, but the insult fundamentally rests upon the original reference.

he goes on to refer to the "euphemism treadmill," another concept he misrepresents by extending the metaphor to say that terms which have been sufficiently distanced from their original reference are no longer pejorative. to quote: "...once we sufficiently distance a word from its historical usage, it stops taking on the same offensive power and just becomes colloquial instead."

which... what? what the fuck is he talking about? the words he uses as examples – idiot, imbecile, and moron – are definitely still offensive, if perhaps less impactful. "just becomes colloquial instead" is a nonsense phrase. are offensive words not colloquial? the only english word that comes to mind as having changed so much in definition as to no longer be offensive is "nice," which has been shifting in meaning for more than 700 years and was never a weaponized clinical term.

he ends by saying, "it is undeniably true that the people who are afraid to say the r-word right now are going to get old and die out, while younger generations keep saying it with no knowledge of where it came from." again, fundamentally misunderstanding language change in society over time. it rests on the assumption that we're all going to start or re-start using this slur and never have a conversation about its harms, which just completely ignores both the abovementioned disability advocacy and the fact that people tell each other not to use offensive words. you think i'm just not gonna teach my kids that using slurs is bad??

the whole video is devoid of both empathy and an understanding of long-term semantic change.

Hello

I am so aware that it's incredibly ironic that after all of support of that group I am making this post, but I have something to say about that group and it isn't very nice. I'm doing this so that everyone knows everything that happened while I was friends with the group and knows not to trust them

If someone could reblog this please so that it's still here after I deactivate, I'd really appreciate it

I know that somehow they are going to discredit me, somehow I'm lying or somehow got manipulated. PLEASE DON'T BELIEVE THEM. No one knows I'm planning on sending this or that I've been thinking this. I did this entirely of my own volition. This message was written from my own mind by my own mind. Don't let them discredit me

For the purposes of clarity: everything below here is about Crow, Adra, Wings, and Vee. I was never close to Mystic. Another thing I have to say to be clear is that I was never groomed by this group and I don't think any other minors were either. They lied a lot but it wasn't grooming

First thing's first I can confirm that they have alternate accounts and they got me to make one too (I deleted mine). They didn't directly tell me to, but in order to monitor people they didn't like out of "safety", they had alts. I know because they had screenshots of blogs that definitely blocked them. They even had screenshots of normal things that need no screenshotting in any scenario.I am 100% sure that they will send and have already sent people hate because they got me to at least twice. I'm not going to give details about what I did when because I would have to bring up old shit for that to make sense, but I do deeply apologize for everything I did in their name

They also convinced me to curse people they didn't like, again for their "safety". I apologize to the people I cursed and have already deconstructed the curses. My curses didn't do any real damage because I only did regret curses

Second of all, they lied about not contacting me outside of supporting me. We talked about pasta, we talked about Hazbin Hotel, we talked about music, and so much more. They weren't acting like a support system, they were acting like my friends. And I fell for it

They had me lie too to cover their asses and there's so many different times I wish I didn't. Again I am so sorry

Third of all, they aren't taking your concerns seriously at all. Back when people made posts saying that the group was too close to minors, they just made jokes about it. Including making "corrupting minors" jokes with me. If that isn't just creepy, I don't know what is- They joked about something that serious in a very gross way. At the time I went with it as a way to cope with the stress of harassment but adults never should be making jokes like that with minors

I can promise you that they aren't taking your concerns seriously, they just see it as someone saying "the same things that have always been said" or as someone spreading lies about them. They haven't changed or grown, it's all a lie to get people to stop being angry at them

Fourth of all, I am scared of them. I'm not saying you should be too but I am scared of them. I'm not trying to fan the flames by sending this but I am scared of how they'll react. They are not above sending hate to a minor and they are not above cursing a minor.

Finally, I'm not here to say that I'm better than them or anything. I am here to say that I fucked up by being their friend. They aren't good people, please don't trust them. And if they see this, please know that if I find one spell on me from y'all, I am telling my witchcraft mother.

To the people I hurt, I am beyond sorry. I cannot put into words how much guilt I felt while helping them and how much more guilt I feel now. It's the real reason behind why I left in early January and it's the reason I'm leaving now. The person I was on here because of them, was never the person I wanted to be. Even after I stop being the person I am here, I am not coming back. Ever. I hope you all are happy and you stay safe and you never have to fear this group again. I hope they leave you all alone

If you want screenshots of any of this, I can give them for everything in this post

Thank you and goodbye

It's 15+, lgbtq+, system and poc safe, and anti misinformation/harmful beliefs! (This includes things like wicca and endogenics.)

We have roles for several religions (like helpol, norsepol, rompol and kempol!) and are an accepting community.

Join here!

It's 15+, lgbtq+, system and poc safe, and anti misinformation/harmful beliefs! (This includes things like wicca and endogenics.)

We have roles for several religions (like helpol, norsepol, rompol and kempol!) and are an accepting community.

Join here!