Is "goofball" derogatory?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That lady sounds crazy but I actually don't use word like goofball and silly to describe my kids. I think it's a little demeaning. I would never say that aloud to another parent, however.

Demeaning? Even adults should be silly sometimes. Are you really serious all the time? I certainly hope for your own good that you and your spouse and family have silly times when you laugh and enjoy each other's company.

I'm not sure why you think just because I don't call my kids silly or goofballs means we never laugh or have fun. I think my kids are hilarious and my family has lots of fun together. I just don't call my children names.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I called my 3-year-old a goofball at Gymboree today and the mother next to me gave me the dirtiest look. I tried to ignore it and later said it again and she very loudly proclaimed to her DS, "that's not a word we use is it Larlo? We use helpful words."

I was kind of taken aback. I consider myself pretty progressive and I've eliminated many words from my vocabulary but goofball is not one.

Is there some negative connotation I'm missing or was this woman just particularly sensitive.

Every progressive knows the term is offensive to some who descend from the Goofball clain in Arkansas.

Jesus.

[Anonymous]

I would have said it is a helpful word because it helps him understand he's a goofball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:nope. We call our son goofball also. Not a protected class.

+1

Haha, just had my mandatory harassment training at work...so "protected class" is front of my mind.

[Anonymous]

OMG. I call my baby "stinky butt" on a regular basis and I mean it 100% affectionately. I'd better hope I don't slip up in public!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I called my 3-year-old a goofball at Gymboree today and the mother next to me gave me the dirtiest look. I tried to ignore it and later said it again and she very loudly proclaimed to her DS, "that's not a word we use is it Larlo? We use helpful words."

I was kind of taken aback. I consider myself pretty progressive and I've eliminated many words from my vocabulary but goofball is not one.

Is there some negative connotation I'm missing or was this woman just particularly sensitive.

If something is derogatory it means it is offensive to an ethnic group. I can't imagine what is derogatory about "goofball." Ignore the woman. She is one of those who has wrapped her child in bubble paper and will be clutching her pearls for years to come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG. I call my baby "stinky butt" on a regular basis and I mean it 100% affectionately. I'd better hope I don't slip up in public!

Oh hell! I slip up in public all the time. Love my little stinky tushie!!

[Anonymous]

I don't call my kids names, and certainly not anything vulgar like "stinky butt". I'm not offended by goofball but I don't use it.

[Anonymous]

now if you said a queer goofball ............

[Anonymous]

I think calling a child goofball is degrading to the child. Would you like your child to call you a goofball. Children learn from what they are told. What is this world coming to when nothing matters anymore. What happened to previous, or loveable.

[Anonymous]

Omg some of y’all are NUTS.

My kid said something like “thats my secret weapon” and friend Larla gasped and ran to her mother who said they don’t use the word weapon.

[Anonymous]

I’ve never heard anyone use “goofball” in a disparaging way. I’ve never heard someone use the word ”goofball’ when they’re obviously angry. The only context in which I’ve heard it is when someone is “goofing off” and being silly. I’m curious about whether the posters who find “goofball” demeaning ever tell their children that the children are being “silly”? In my mind, those terms are synonymous.

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing she's the kind of parent who thinks saying "no" to your kid is child abuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think calling a child goofball is degrading to the child. Would you like your child to call you a goofball. Children learn from what they are told. What is this world coming to when nothing matters anymore. What happened to previous, or loveable.

Lately my 3 YO has been calling DH and me "silly gooses" (I think she learned it in preschool) and I am...shockingly...not feeling degraded by it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I called my 3-year-old a goofball at Gymboree today and the mother next to me gave me the dirtiest look. I tried to ignore it and later said it again and she very loudly proclaimed to her DS, "that's not a word we use is it Larlo? We use helpful words."

I was kind of taken aback. I consider myself pretty progressive and I've eliminated many words from my vocabulary but goofball is not one.

Is there some negative connotation I'm missing or was this woman just particularly sensitive.

If something is derogatory it means it is offensive to an ethnic group. I can't imagine what is derogatory about "goofball." Ignore the woman. She is one of those who has wrapped her child in bubble paper and will be clutching her pearls for years to come.

The word derogatory has nothing to do with being offensive to ethnic groups. It is expressing a low or critical opinion of any person or thing.