20 Phrases You’ve Been Saying and Did Not Know Were Offensive (5 of 5)

“Spaz”

Most commonly, referring to someone as spastic is as offensive as any other curse that you might throw around or call somebody. The disgrace comes into the picture from the word’s relationship with cerebral paralysis, an illness that used to be alluded to as spastic paralysis.

 

 

“No can do”

The sentence ‘no can do’ is actually more racially offensive and discriminatory than you think. The broken sentence has a history associated with it, which dates back to the mid-1800s when the phase was more commonly used by westerners to mock east Asians and Chinese for their abstract trade language.

 

 

“Hooligans”

This particular word evolves from a group of animated characters that seem to have a similar name. The cartoon aired in the 19th century and was excessively racist and portrayed a stereotypical image of immigrant families. The series depicted an Irish family trying hard to make its place in London.

 

 

“Basket case”

The term what we believe means to refer to a person that has a hard time coping up has a history that dates back to the World War I era when the slang was used to refer to a person who had lost all limbs and as a result, had to be carried in a basket case.