The word "handicapped" debated

Some colleagues and I recently had a debate about whether the word handicapped is offensive or not. They asked me whether I was offended. I replied that there are usually two opposing sides, one strongly against it and the other indifferent. I am more for the latter.  I think we should go a little old school and remember the adage “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” People can say many unkind things, but if we give power to the word, are we are proliferating its strength? In a utopian society, there would be no classifying, no hierarchy, no segregation, and no inequality. But, let’s face it we are not one.

Where does this word handicapped come from? It isn’t used negatively in golf or horse racing. So, is this a word from the sports genre? I did a little digging. As I suspected, this word had nothing to do with disability or impairment at all. This word goes back to the 1600s. It is a name of a lottery game. As a living language does, this word morphed from hand-in-cap to hand i’cap and finally handicap. Even after the lottery game was lost; it was used to level out the playing field in horse racing by making the stronger horse bear more weight. So, it means to equal out the contest. This sounds pretty positive to me, making things equitable. We attach meanings throughout history to words and often focus on the negative way they are being used without thought to their origin. This is something I think the new generation is really missing out on by using the abbreviated, text version, advertising’s word creation, and just plain un-interest in the English language. They are missing out on the richness of meaning.

Anyway, I digress. Let us go back to the debate. I told them, I have had people say things to me using seemingly innocuous words that were offensive just because of the intent in which they used them. I had a woman call me “dear” and not the rest of my group or the people she served later. I felt like I was being patted on the head and about 2 years old. It isn’t always the word itself, but the intent of how it is used that offends. I am not easily offended, but let’s face it some people are offended no matter what.

You can scour the internet and find people giving their opinion on the word handicapped. Some are so fanatical it offends me (this time it does) that they are speakinng for ALL the disabled community. So, let me be clear. This blog post is my opinion and I don’t speak for anyone but myself. If I started speaking for everyone, I would be doing what society often does and lump everyone in one category without regard for diversity.