Board Thread:General Wiki Discussion/@comment-11333115-20131016130019/@comment-6761334-20131031122248

I have read your posts. I get that you thnk that it is simply a word that means "bad" and that it is okay to use them in that context. I am saying it is not fine to use it that way. Using those words in that way is bigoted. They are not a normal words, as there are added connotations that are offensive.

A few years ago I actually might have described something as gay when I did not like it. It was when a friend of mine sat me down and explained that he had a gay half-brother and that he found it offensive that I stopped. Out of respect for my friend I reconsidered my opinion on the topic, and decided that I was wrong before. When people people liken things they dislike to a group of people they are saying they dislike it because it reminds them of that group of people. That is where the extra meaning and insult comes from.

Another example I can think of was when a friend of mine started using the phrase "That's so jewish" after picking it up at work. I repeatedly asked him to stop, as it was not acceptable and he gave me pretty much the exact same response you gave here. One night, after being fed up with it, I called him out at the gaming table. Luckily, the group joined me in chastising him and he never said the phrase again.

Maybe chastising someone in chat by, I don't know, a ban would give them a few hours or a day or two to think about what they said. Both my friend and myself reevaluated our positions after social reprimands were faced. We evaluated our position and changed as people only after we began to understand why our actions were bad.

When you say "that's X" or "that's so x"  to exspress dislike where x = a group of people, you are commiting an act of bigotry. It does not matter what X is in the equation. In all cases a group of people is used as a synonym for bad or distasteful. It means I think this is bad because it reminds me of these people. It is not, in the slightest, a legitimate use of the words and there should be repercussions faced if people indulge in it.

If you wish to defend bigoted word usage that is your perogative, but I really don't think I can spell why people find it offensive much clearer.