Respect and the lack thereof
"Respect" is a very versatile word. In itself it can be used as both a noun and a verb, allowing you to "show respect" to your elders, "pay your respects" to the deceased, and also, by not wiping pork on some poor Jewish chap's face, you are "respecting his culture." (And his right not to have meat products wiped on him, presumably...)

"With respect to x", "Being respectful", "Being respectable", the list goes on. It's a wonderfully useful word and I do believe we should treat it with due respect.

"Disrespect," however, is a word we seem to have a problem with, isn't it? I hate to break it to you, but it's a lot less versatile. It's a noun. Just a noun, nothing more.

This means you can "show disrespect" to someone or something, or you can be "disrespectful" towards it. That is it. That is pretty much the limit of what you can do with it.

You CANNOT, IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS SACRED AND PROFANE, USE IT AS A VERB. IT IS NOT A FUCKING VERB. Nobody has ever "disrespected" you BECAUSE THERE IS NO SUCH FUCKING WORD. They were disrespectful towards you, but try enunciating that with your custom-slackened jaw.

I love the animated series American Dad!, but their writers have eternally lost a lot of my respect for not correcting the line "That's for disrespecting my daughter." One of my favourite episodes as well, but that line makes me want to claw my eyes out and plug my ears with them.

And so to the next loathsome little pile of crumbly faecal matter who tells me I should show him more "respeck," I would like to point out that respect is earned, not expected, and maybe he'll earn a little bit of it from me if he can learn how to use the word "disrespect" correctly.
(LongJohnBaldry, Thu 8 Apr 2010, 14:29, 2 replies)

I respect your view.
Respect.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Thu 8 Apr 2010, 14:32, closed)

I will second this
With the attitude of 'respect' in general. Youths expect 'respect' instantly, when quite often they have done absolutely nothing to deserve it, or have even not shown respect to their whole surroundings.
(Iggy Pop's Teeth, Thu 8 Apr 2010, 14:32, closed)