Joe The Plumber Knows What Queer Is???

If you're stopping by FCR, chances are you aren't reading Christianity Today's Interview - Joe The Plumber. So please, feel free to click on the link, read and come right back.

Ok, done? Hmmm, my first comment about this article would be, who really cares about what Joe The Plumber says about Conservatism, Republicans, Evangelicals, or anything else for that matter?
Joe The Plumber said, "People don't understand the dictionary—it's called queer. Queer means strange and unusual. It's not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that." Let's clarify for Joe The Plumber, just exactly what queer means, and before we do that, perhaps we should edjumicate him on the parts of language. Those being, Adjectives, Verbs and Nouns. this is from Dictionary.Com - Queer:

"–adjective
1. strange or odd from a conventional viewpoint; unusually different; singular: a queer notion of justice.
2. of a questionable nature or character; suspicious; shady: Something queer about the language of the prospectus kept investors away.
3. not feeling physically right or well; giddy, faint, or qualmish: to feel queer.
4. mentally unbalanced or deranged.
5. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
a. homosexual.
b. effeminate; unmanly.
6. Slang. bad, worthless, or counterfeit.
–verb (used with object)
7. to spoil; ruin.
8. to put (a person) in a hopeless or disadvantageous situation as to success, favor, etc.
9. to jeopardize.
–noun
10. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a homosexual, esp. a male homosexual.
11. Slang. counterfeit money."

Joe, you're completely right, queer is not like a slur, it is a slur. Note that I've bolded "disparage" in each definition. From Dictionary.Com, slur means:

"–verb (used with object)
1. to pass over lightly or without due mention or consideration (often fol. by over): The report slurred over her contribution to the enterprise.
2. to pronounce (a syllable, word, etc.) indistinctly by combining, reducing, or omitting sounds, as in hurried or careless utterance.
3. to cast aspersions on; calumniate; disparage; depreciate: The candidate was viciously slurred by his opponent."

In the article, Joe The Plumber stated "I've had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn't have them anywhere near my children." That's too bad really, that he feels that he wouldn't want homosexuals near his children. Perhaps Joe has the word "homosexual" confused with the word "pedophile"? Or does he think that homosexuality is catchy, like the flu?

Again, why does anyone care what Joe The Plumber (is he even a plumber yet?) thinks?

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