James Arthur

Oh God, I can't be arsed with this.

Sluff, I appreciate what you've done, but I'm big and daft enough to stand by what I've said. It was my choice to use that word and I make no apologies.

Culcheth......I'm truly sorry that your niece has been born with a chromosomal birth defect. I truly am.

But I can't help feeling that you've being particularly offended because suddenly, your family has been made to address this issue.

Be honest now, would you have reacted so vociferously against my use of the word "mong" if your niece had been born without the condition?

I lost my daughter at the age of 18 months. It was fuckin' horrible and me and my wife wound up getting divorced over it.

So please, don't play the "I'm so upset because some bloke on an internet forum has said something a bit upsetting" card.

Suck it up and get on with it, mate.

There's a big wide world out there.

(Apologies if you see my use of the word "mate" as offensive.)

#hadn't not had. Obviously.

Breadman wrote:X-Factor and everybody involved in it can fuck right off.

... and so say all of us!

Breadman, I am offended by the term, use it again and it'll be the last time you use any words on this site.

Calm down everyone, this is spiralling out of control.

gloswhite wrote:Calm down everyone, this is spiralling out of control.

Quite right.

I am not offended at the moment by mong. However I remain interested in the debate. My understanding of the word is that it has two meanings in current English. One word is used as a derogatory term for a person born with downs syndrome. The other use of the word is not directed at someone with downs, it is used as a social put down without the intention to offend. Having said that, the social put down use of mong is derived from the its original mong and mongol. The debate for me is partially centered around whether it matters where the word originated from and whether its historical background are a deciding factor as to if it is considered an offensive term.