uncleglen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The term 'brainstorm' was used widely before the > year 2000 and then teachers in my school were told > not to use it as it offends people with mental > health problems...so we stopped using it. That's mental. As someone who probably shouldn't be considered 100% the full ticket I use the M word every day and in a variety of contexts, and I think it's very rarely offensive. Only if used against those who are vulnerable to the negative effects of mental illness (of which I understand little - perhaps that's important) or intimately associated with them by their family, social, treatment, work or other institutional networks should it be considered offensive. I do like using the word "gay" in reference to lame acts, which isn't very PC but I don't really care. Perhaps that's because I'm not a big fan of homosexuality. The loose use of the word "lame" which I just repeated is probably more offensive to me when I think about it!