re: #165 SanFranciscoZionist

We live in sufficiently different worlds that I have never seen that specific use of the term “reclaiming”. I just figured it out from all the words around it.

OTOH, my grandmother retired from teaching to a busy schedule of volunteer teaching with kids in a variety of tight spots - Head Start, 2nd grade kids staying after school for remedial reading, and Mennonites (for whom English was a 2nd language). She used the terms mongoloid, retarded, and sit like an Indian (cross legged) with no sense of irony at all and only occasionally was called out on it. If you’re a civil person with a respectful tone,you can say just about anything. If you’re nasty, any word can become vulger.

It was almost spooky how she could bend the minds of dozens of 4-8 year old kids to her will, just with a look, like Svengali with a beehive haircut and Peggy Hill glasses - which looked better on her than on Peggy Hill.