http://daniinnc.blogspot.com/2008/10/lets-stop-drinking-kool-aid-shall-we.html

People should know the full meaning of a word or phrase before they use it.

Let’s talk about context. It’s true that the word faggot used to mean bundle of sticks, but the reason the term is now associated with gay people is because, during the witch trials and subsequent burnings, gay people were often thrown onto the fire first like a bundle of sticks.

So, given the history and etymology of certain words, yeah, these things can be offensive.

Snafu, however, has been used for many years to mean a troubling situation. It’s origins also come from the military and like most of those it was initially an acronym. SNAFU means “situation normal: all fucked up.”

I’m not saying I’m in favor of MILF’s usage . . . ever. I’m just noting how other course phrases have worked their way into more polite society.

“…MILF will mean nothing more than an attractive woman PAST COLLEGE AGE [emphasis mine] by then. Consider the word “sexy” — it has “sex” right in it, yet we feel no qualms about applying it to friends, strangers, even cars and electronics.”

A) Really? You’d say this to a stranger that you respected and considered an equal? Suddenly I’m recalling Pulp Fiction and a discussion about what it means for a guy to give anybody a foot massage. We are comfortable throwing around this sort of language because we DON’T respect strangers, or women, or guys who are “Black (or Gay, or Muslim or retired or…) like me.”

B) I find referring to cars as “sexy” silly & lazy. But that’s the product of our heavily commoditized, pulp and idol focused times. If we desire someone we call them “sexy.” But we’re not meaning we wanna have sex with a car, just that we want it. Maybe we want it “a lot.” Yet when I recently pressed a coworker to defend his desire for a “sexy” iPhone he finally admitted he wanted the thing because other people were lining up to express their desire and admiration for what, otherwise, is just an expensive phone.

C) I’m actually interested in the idea that “past college age” has become the “new” departure point for women being over the hill and past their prime. And I’m even more interested in the idea that 23+ year old women should let anyone imply that they are inferior objects of desire all of a sudden.

The next time you bust out calling a “strange” woman MILF or sexy, just be aware. I’m gonna duck.

If you want to air on the side of not being a total douchebag, don’t call random ladies on the street MILF.

Or… personal plug here… phat. Don’t call me phat. I know, you’ve explained, it’s about how round and luscious my butt is. You’re not saying “fat” with an f.

I DON’T CARE. It makes me uncomfortable. I don’t know you!

The end.

Oh, and apparently GILF (yes, the G stands for Grandmother) is the new MILF, what with the whole “cougar” phenomenon and all…

(Sticks head under pillow and sings loudly until it goes away)

No, in the UK “fag” means cigarette, but never “faggot”. “Faggots” are something you eat – a kind of meatball variant.

If I was called a DILF I’d feel either flattered or scared, depending upon who said it. I would never call a woman a MILF to her face (except possibly my wife), and can’t quite believe anyone would if they understood the acronym.

Crazy.

But the thing is, that hasn’t happened yet. It’s still offensive NOW. The movie is just barely a decade old, for goodness’ sake.

Therefore, anyone casually calling someone a MILF to their face as a completely humorless compliment is trying to live outside of current chronology and should be strip-searched by the Time Cops. Just in case.

For a word to gain a new accepted meaning in popular culture, the majority of people need to 1. be using said word with it’s new meaning, and 2. not be offended or confused by it’s use as it relates to the old meaning. I’ll still contend that “gay” doesn’t pass that test, although it’s further along that continuum than “MILF,” to be sure.

“Gay” has already changed it’s popularly accepted meaning once over the last 100 years, and might do so again. As a gamer in the midwest growing up in the ’80′s, I’ve seen the origins of its use (and used it myself, in more ignorant times) as lame or uncool, and maturing away from the derogatory origins of using it that way. As you point out, it’s firmly entrenched in some segments of our culture – youth, certain humor genres, and online gaming, to name an overlapping few. Overall though, it’s not used as such by a broad spectrum of adults, or a majority of the population, hence my observation.

The reason I say *might* above is that the offensiveness of the word is derogatorily tied to a specific population of people, many of whom continue to identify it as a slur. In this way, you can similarly argue that other words that are negatively tied to a population of people (racial epithets, for example) will have a much more difficult time of transitioning to a new non-offensive meaning due to their history and the continued perception by some that they are vile slander. (That’s not a commentary on whether or not it’s right or wrong for that to happen, merely the truth of the matter.) It may be that in the future, enough people working for homosexual rights (of any orientation) will no longer see gay as being an insult, and then it might creep firmly into popular usage for uncool among people of all ages and backgrounds.

I have digressed. As you were.

To reiterate Dr. Cmar: Fucker.

However, I feel that MILF is a loaded term/label (keep in mind, I still feel that individuals have the freedom to use loaded terms and labels, they just raise the chances that they will be ignored or dismissed).

MILF is loaded, as it is a underhanded compliment. The term implies that if the recipient wasn’t a mother, the individual wouldn’t find the recipient as sexually attractive (otherwise they would just say WILF [Woman I'd Like to...] or some other term/label that doesn’t bring the passage into motherhood to the equation).

Labels make interactions impersonal. Being sexually desired is personal. At its core, MILF is conflicted, which is why I feel there is such a disparity about its use.

If you want to combat its popular usage, maybe fire needs to be fought with fire. When someone calls you a MILF, call them a LILI [a Lizard that I'd Like to Ignore].

Point being I could care less what is said, elitist is now a bad term, meaning if you go to college and are educated you automatically want teh world to be run by the elite, when elite used to mean A group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status.

Faggot, in the UK means cigarette, it used to mean a bundle of sticks, now it is a derogatory term for a homosexual man.

Ass, it is a donkey, it has come to mean either someones butt or a person being obnoxious and unruly.

These words all have positive and negative meanings like all words, look how easily we call someone a fascist or a nazi, those words hold strongly negative meanings behind them, yet today are thrown around care free to mean a rigid person who believes his views are the only views that matter.

1) Mur, I think you should record this–fantastic post.
2) In response to Icepick, I’d probably take DILF as a compliment–at least more so than Dad Ass. Although, it’s a little too close to “Dill” (see there’s the lizard brain).

I first became aware of the term MILF my first Summer as a camp counselor–the verbiage was as standard as “dodgeball” or “whistle.” I’m sure I even used the term–purely in a scholarly manner, of course. (insert chin rubbing “Ah, MILF–yes. I can see why you would say such a thing, friend). I never said anything along the lines of “Johnny Smith’s mom is a MILF.”

Or maybe I did.

I think most of us boys grow up and create a situation where we are fortunate enough to have a MILF who puts up with our wonderful and occasionally lizard-brained behavior. We’re even able to look back and marvel that we actual used a term like MILF in conversation. But, if we think back–really think–we probably even used the term “dudicle.”

That really makes me cringe.

#endabsentramblingafternoonthoughtsandconfusednostalgia#

While I see and understand your point about breaking down MILF and examining what it means at a base level, I also think you might be reading a little bit too much into it. Yes, there is that bracket of thinking that truly means it literally. Others simply do mean to use it in complimentary manner. These folks have not likely given a whole lot of thought to its literal meaning after breaking it down.

In the long run, I don’t think it’s much to worry about. Like most generational phrasing, its usage will pass in time, and will likely be replaced with something even more annoying. Such is life.