Inmedicine, the adjectivespastic refers to an alteration inmuscle tone affected by themedical conditionspasticity, which is a well-known symptomatic phenomenon seen in patients with a wide range of central neurological disorders, including spinal cord injury,cerebral palsy (for example,spastic diplegia), stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and multiple sclerosis (MS),[1] as well as conditions such as "spastic colon." The word is derived viaLatin from theGreekspastikos ("drawing in", "tugging" or "shaking uncontrollably").
Colloquially, the nounspastic, originally a medical term, is nowpejorative; though severity of this differs between the United States and the United Kingdom. Disabled people in the United Kingdom often consider "spastic" to be one of the most offensive terms related todisability.[2][3]
The medical term "spastic" came into use to describecerebral palsy.[4] TheScottish Council for the Care of Spastics was founded in 1946, and theSpastics Society, an English charity for people with cerebral palsy, was founded in 1951. However, the word began to be used as an insult and became a term of abuse used to implystupidity or physicalineptness: a person who is uncoordinated or incompetent, or a fool.[5] It was often colloquially abbreviated to shorter forms such as'spaz'.
Although the word has a much longer history, itsderogatory use grew considerably in the 1980s and this is sometimes attributed to the BBC children's TV showBlue Peter;[6] during theInternational Year of Disabled Persons (1981), several episodes ofBlue Peter featured a man namedJoey Deacon with cerebral palsy, who was described as a "spastic". Phrases such as "joey", "deacon", "spacker" and "spaz" became widely used insults amongst children at that time.[7]
In 1994, the same year thatConservative MPTerry Dicks referred to himself in aHouse of Commons debate as "a spastic with cerebral palsy",[8] the Spastics Society changed its name toScope. The word has been deemed unacceptable to use outside of specific medical contexts,[9] thus reducingstigmatisation of the condition.[6] Some UK schoolchildren adopted a derogatory adaptation of the Spastic Society's new name, "scoper".[10][11]The current understanding of the word is well-illustrated by aBBC survey in 2003, which found that "spastic" was the second most offensive term in the UK relating to anyone with adisability. (The word "retard" was deemed most offensive in the US and other countries).[3] In 2007,Lynne Murphy, a linguist at theUniversity of Sussex, described the term as being "one of the most taboo insults to a British ear".[2]
In American slang, the term 'spaz' has evolved from a derogatory description of people with disabilities, and is generally understood as a casual word for clumsiness, otherness, sometimes associated withoverexcitability, excessivestartle response ("jumpiness"), excessiveenergy, involuntary or random movement, or hyperactivity. Some of these associations use the symptoms of cerebral palsy and other related disabilities as insults.
Its usage has been documented as far back as the mid-1950s.[12]In 1965, film criticPauline Kael, hypothesised that, "The term that Americanteenagers now use as the opposite of 'tough' is 'spaz'."
Benjamin Zimmer, editor for American dictionaries atOxford University Press, and researcher at theUniversity of Pennsylvania's Institute for Research in Cognitive Sciences, writes that by the mid-1960s the American usage of the term 'spaz' shifted from "its original sense of 'spastic or physically uncoordinated person' to something more like 'nerdy, weird, or uncool person'", all with a negative sense.[13] In a June 2005 newsletter for American Dialect Society, Zimmer reports that the "earliest [written] occurrence of uncoordinated 'spaz' he could find" is inThe Elastik Band's 1967 "undeniably tasteless, garage-rock single" – "Spazz".[14] Although this is out-of-sync with terms such as "spazzing out" that directly mock or relate to physical disability.
Later in 1978,Steve Martin introduced a character Charles Knerlman, a.k.a. "Chaz the Spaz" onSaturday Night Live, in a skit withBill Murray called "Nerds". Bill Murray later starred in the movieMeatballs, which had a character named "Spaz".[15] Both shows portrayed a "spaz" as a nerd or with potential cognitive or learning disabilities in a comic setting, reinforcing the more casual negative use of the term in the United States by using it in a popular comedy.[12]
The term still occasionally appears in North American movies or TV series, such asFriends, as a pejorative word which reflects a certain degree of casual ableism. As such, it receives a different reaction from British and American audiences. In one episode, Rachel refers to herself as a "laundry spaz" due to her inability to competently do the laundry; this relates to the original meaning about physical ability. This comment was deemed offensive enough by theBritish Board of Film Classification to give the episode a12 rating. Other episodes in the series are rated a step lower as PG.[16] Similarly, Rugrats:Tales from the Crib: Snow White got a PG rating based on Angelica calling Kimi "Spazzy".[17]
The difference in qualitative assessment of the term between British and American audiences is demonstrated by reactions to comments by golferTiger Woods after losing theUS Masters Tournament in 2006. He said, "I was so in control from tee to green, the best I've played for years ... But as soon as I got on the green I was a spaz." His remarks were broadcast and drew no known public attention in the United States. But they were widely reported in theUnited Kingdom, where they caused offence and were condemned by a representative ofScope andTanni Grey-Thompson, a prominentparalympian. On learning of the furor over his comments, Woods' representative promptly apologized.[18][19]
Shortly afterWeird Al Yankovic's song "Word Crimes" (2014) was released, Yankovic said that he had been unaware that the word "spastic" as used in the song is "considered a highly offensive slur by some people", particularly in theUnited Kingdom. He apologized for having it in his lyrics.[20]
Lizzo's 2022 song "Grrrls" included the word "spaz". The song was criticized and the singer was asked to remove this content (classified as expressing an ableist slur) from the lyrics.[21] After the backlash, Lizzo posted her stance against derogatory language; she has since announced a new version of "Grrrls" with new lyrics.[22][23] Similarly,Beyoncé's 2022 song "Heated" from her seventh studio albumRenaissance included the word. It was strongly criticized and the word was eventually removed from the song.[24]
In Australian English, for some time, terms such as "spastic" and "crippled" were considered the proper words to describe persons with various disabilities and even appeared ontraffic signs warning drivers of such persons near the road. More recently, these terms have fallen out of use and replaced with the more socially acceptable and generic "disabled". The word "spastic" became so negatively loaded that The Spastic Society of Victoria had to change its name to Scope.[25]
Multiple products in the United States have names or content including the word 'spaz' or 'spastic'.
Controversy arises if products are sold in the UK under the same name. In particular the manufacturers and importers of theSpazz wheelchair were criticised by the British charity Scope when they put the wheelchair on sale in the UK.[26] Scope expressed a fear that such a brand would spur use of the word again as an insult. Such negative usage had declined since the 1980s.[27]
TheTransformers Power Core Combiners line of robot toys was to include a character named "Spastic".Hasbro, the makers of Transformers, said that it would not release "Spastic" in the UK. This did not stop vocal British fans from alerting various news outlets, eventually resulting in the name being changed for all markets to the less-offensive "Over-Run". The online biography for another Transformer, Strafe, originally described him as "spastic", but was changed to "twitchy" when controversy erupted.[citation needed]
On 29 June 2007, Ubisoft of France pulled one of their games calledMind Quiz: Your Brain Coach, for referring to players who did not perform well at the game as "Super Spastic". The company stated "As soon as we were made aware of the issue we stopped distribution of the product and are now working with retailers to pull the game off the market."[28] One month later, Nintendo recalledMario Party 8 because the term was used in in-game dialogue.[29]
CHRISTY BROWN is not strictly a spastic. But the word has now come to be used to cover all forms of cerebral palsy — the medical term for the effects produced by some types of brain maldevelopment or by brain injury at birth.
Oxford English Dictionary editor Robert W. Burchfield wrote in a note appended to the entry for spastic, the epithet "is generally condemned as a tasteless expression, and is not common in print."