ext_5483 ([identity profile] torrilin.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] azurelunatic 2006-06-01 06:44 pm (UTC)

Yeah, it's a tough category tho, because if I'm talking about someone in particular, there *is* a right term. I usually don't have any way to determine what the right term is, and most of the maximally generic terms end up prejudging someone. And well, if using "girly" for appearance artists is bad because it prejudges their gender, I suspect "slob" or "sloppy" for someone who has a messy appearance is probably a bad idea too. The stuff you've come up with is at least a good way to handle it if you *know* that a particular descriptor applies.

And now my head hurts. Our language is *really* bad at handling "has specific subcategory, but correct subcategory is undefined" situations.

(and then there's "fat"...)

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