heya haddock! hope you're having a good day. so, i was talking about the word "triggered" with someone who uses it casually, and i told them that they shouldn't use it as it trivialises mental illness, however they said that words develop new meanings over time, for example trigger wasn't originally a term that had to do with mental illness, so "triggered" has now developed the new meaning "offended". (1/2)
i wanted to ask you as you have a background in linguistics, and i was wondering what you think of this? i understand if you would prefer to not talk about this though. have a good day!
Hello and hope you are well, too! Thank you for being so thoughtful - yes, I am okay talking about this. And I do think itâs an important matter to discuss, too, so that we can understand the importance of our everyday word usage and how it impacts the people around us.
So it is always true that words constantly develop new meanings. For instance, back around the 1200s, the word âsillyâ used to mean âhappy.â It could also, a little later, mean such things as âblessed,â âpious,â or âinnocent.â By the late 1300s, it had undergone a semantic shift called pejoration, and developed the less flattering meanings of âpitiableâ and âweak.â And since the 1500s, itâs been used along the lines of the empty-headed, foolish definition weâre more familiar with. Thatâs quite the shift over time! And yet we can trace the word âsillyâ through all these meanings.
But just because we can say âThis word has meaning changes,â doesnât always mean itâs fair to justify controversial usage of a word. The fact that âtriggeredâ is controversial says something significant about the state of its current accepted meanings in society. The fact that you, many others, and I do find offense in the word âtriggeredâ being used in the âoffendedâ meaning⌠says something about how we should regard our choice of language.
The word c*nt, way back in the days, wasnât obscene. It was a more general anatomical term. Now it is obscene, and contemporary usage of the word dictates we probably shouldnât speak it freely. And r*tarded used to be neutral as well, but itâs certainly an offensive word today. You really shouldnât use r*tard today because itâs that unpleasant of a slur! Just because words have had or have or will develop new meanings doesnât mean we can say weâre in the clear when we use those words in our speech. We have to be sensitive to how the word takes place in our society today.
And the thing with âtriggeredâ is that, in society today, it is not a word that can be thrown about respectfully. When used to mean âoffended,â itâs not a neutral term in the same way that âinsultedâ is neutral. Sociolinguistics, semantics, connotations, and how words can be offensive to society⌠is a thing.
The use of the word âtriggeredâ to mean âoffendedâ is a very new phenomenon. VERY new phenomenon - as in, only the last few years. Not only that, but how the word became to mean âoffendedâ is through an unkind jibe: by downplaying the psychological suffering of individuals who are triggered by circumstances, by almost suggesting these peoplesâ triggerings are childish, not serious, or unreal. Itâs a word suggesting that people are easily offended, flip out about things that arenât actually a problem, etc. And while there are going to be some individuals who act that way by pretending to be triggered when they are not actually mentally ill, that doesnât make the âoffendedâ meaning of âtriggeredâ any more respectful. Itâs quite disrespectful. Itâs ignoring those who truly do get triggered from their psychological struggles. As you say, itâs trivializing people with mental illness. In many ways, itâs mocking, disregarding, and disbelieving them. Thatâs the entire point of why the word âtriggeredâ came to mean âoffendedâ in the last few years!
This very recent history of how the word has been âchangedâ isnât some neutral usage of âoffended.â Me saying, âOh, youâre offended!â in a jubilant manner is nowhere close to the shout-out, âLOL, TRIGGERED!!!â There is a huge difference between how people use âinsultedâ to mean âoffendedâ versus how people use âtriggeredâ to mean âoffended.â The word âinsultedâ is neutral and can be used respectfully to mean âoffended.â The offended definition of âtriggeredâ is NOT neutral - itâs pejorative. Itâs being used in an ableist, offensive manner - and making jokes about the word is by nature making fun of people who are triggered from their mental illness.
Itâs not that âtriggeredâ means âoffendedâ nice and neutrally - it means âoffendedâ in an offensive way.
Maybe three hundred years down the road, the word âtriggeredâ will have gone through the somewhat rare process of amelioration and become a neutral term meaning âoffended.â But thatâs nowhere close to its meaning now. The raw meaning of where âtriggeredâ got derived in an unkind way is extremely fresh and potent.Â
If many people are telling you that a word is offensive - aka, whatâs going on with âtriggeredâ - then that word is, in fact, legitimately offensive.
