Tiger is being crucifed in the gutter British press after his 'putted like a spas ' commnet after Sunday's round.
The Sun , a British gutter tabloid tha tmakes the nAtional Enquirer look intellectual, is having a bash at tTger because the spas word is an abbreviation of spastic, a term used to describe a wide range of physically disabled peopel in English. It is ironic that a newspaper that prints semi naked women on page three, and does not distinguish between smut nad news is going after a person who has avoided numerous pitfalls in bland news conferences.
If you are reading this Tiger, laugh at them and ignore this ****
I saw that interview when Tiger said that and new straight away that there would be an uproar because I and my wife's ears pricked up, we looked at each other and said "Did he just say....... no he can't have??".
But to be honest I couldn't really care less, I mean you see and someimes hear footballers swearing every 5 seconds, I even heard it in F1 a few weeks ago, but no mention of anything in the gutter press there??
I guess this is again the price Tiger pays for being the biggest sports start in the world right now.
The sun isnt anywhere near as bad as the National Enquirer..... I still wouldnt read it though!
I saw the interview and I had no problem. He used a word which would be used by many of us without thinking (or we would use words of similar unintentional meaning). I dont want to hear him repeat a rehearsed set of words, I liked to hear him come out and say he putted like an idiot, just as the rest of us can relate to. The Sun really needs to wise up.
At the end of the day though, the Sun's major readership is interested only in dirt (of the gossip or sexual form), so Tiger is rather unlikely to care what they would think!
Spas or spaz has the same meaning in the US. Although on a daily basis we do not us the word spastic to describe our mentally or physically disabled people. In the US we refer to them as mentally or physically challenged. It have been a really slow press day for them to make that comment an issue. Sort of falls in line with what you would call a cigarette in the UK. Some Americans would take that term a bit offensive.
The Press is a bit touchy isn't it? Let's be real...If an athlete from across the pond was quoted worldwide as saying, "I'm going to go outside and have a fag"...the tabloids wouldn't blink! Who would have thought that "spas" would cause such an uproar...and, predominantly from tabloids? It's just one of those little cultural differences that we all know and love. Now, I'm going to finish my coffee and bangers.
Children all over the UK use the word Spaz to mean idiot.
The Sun must have had a blank space to fill and could not find a photo of a half naked drunk celebrity.
Here in the UK, I for one was very surprised to hear Jimenez; who does not speak too much English; shout "Get down, Get down, "****" after his tee shot at the 6th on Sunday.
Last edited by leaguegolf : April 11th, 2006 at 12:24 PM.
Reason: Not enough ****'s
I think spaz has lost its meaning here as a derogatory term for a disabled person. As Fileygolfer said, here too, it's taken on a much more generic meaning, the equivalent to geek, dork or idiot(which I suppose was sometimes used as a derogatory term for the mentally disabled). It's a real stretch to come down on him for that, but I suppose there are those willing to take the bait.
I work up in San Francisco, and my boss, who's from Wigan (England), still makes me cringe when he says he's going out to "...smoke a fag...". The mincing walk turns into a duck for cover!
... it's taken on a much more generic meaning, the equivalent to geek, dork or idiot...
...or my sis-in-laws dog...
She hears a cell phone go off, a clap of thunder, the toot of a vehicle horn, and she goes spastic.
She pants hard, whines, knocks her head into the door/window/gate/wall, and generally freaks out...
IOW, she is a SPAZ.
She hears a cell phone go off, a clap of thunder, the toot of a vehicle horn, and she goes spastic.
She pants hard, whines, knocks her head into the door/window/gate/wall, and generally freaks out...
IOW, she is a SPAZ.
That's the context I'd use "spaz" in if I were using it. I'd never even heard of spaz as being a term for an idiot or otherwise slow person until this thread.
The word I stay MILES away from is 'retard'. Terrible, terrible word that was used SO much as a kid to describe others acting foolish or unintelligently.
Like Stlcard, I had never really considered SPAZ to be in that category. However, after reading the first post where it generally defines the word as someone with physical disabilities, it could very well be in that category.
So, Tiger could probably choose his words a bit more carefully next time if the two words are so similar in meaning as pointed out. Because if he had said "I putted like a retard" he would have some serious explaining to do...
April 11th, 2006, 03:24 AM
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