The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #63618   Message #1035329
Posted By: Steve Parkes
14-Oct-03 - 09:38 AM
Thread Name: dyslexia jokes offensive?
Subject: RE: dyslexia jokes offensive?
Well, I thought they were funny before I got to the home page ... I guess it's like the old song says: "if it wasn't for bad taste, I wouldn't have no taste at all."

There's an undefinable line beyond which a joke is in bad taste and shouldn't told/shown. But there's a second undefinable line beyond which bad taste becomes so outrageously extreme it becomes acceptable again. And a lot depends on who's telling it, and why. It's not so long ago that it was held to be self-evidently very bad that disabled people should be allowed to make their own decisions, especially when it came to having children; and don't even think about -- gasp -- sex.

That reminds me:

Self-evident: evident to oneself and no-one else.
(Ambrose Bierce: The Devils' Dictionary)


Steve

PS Well done with the carrot!