Turqoise-Planet t1_je7blig wrote on March 29, 2023 at 10:49 PM

Reply to comment by Lordosass67 in Jennifer Aniston Says ‘A Whole Generation of Kids’ Finds ‘Friends’ Offensive: ‘You Have to Be Very Careful’ With Comedy Now by Neo2199

Lesbo wasn't considered offensive back then. There are a lot of words that started off inoffensive, but then became considered offensive over time. A century ago "retarded" was considered an actual medical term, and was used in textbooks (it literally means "slow"). Now its very offensive.

Maninhartsford t1_je7go52 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 11:27 PM

Through the 80s at least! There's a fantastic episode of the 80s twilight zone by George RR Martin that has a lot of moments land strangely now because of how they're using the word as a medical term. The infamous quantum leap reveal also comes to mind. Though I'm sure the word was already being used as an insult at the time, there simply wasn't another word for it.