it is offensive because it devalues mentally handicapped people.
Does it, though?
My best friend of about 10 years has asperges as well as a couple of other issues and regularly tells other people not to worry about offending him and pokes fun at himself too.
Obviously this isn’t the case for everyone in his position but he personally feels that having people tred on egg shells around him only makes him feel more “abnormal” (I don’t really want to use that word in regards to his mental illness, but it’s the way he phrased it).
Things like that can be and are a coping mechanism for some people. It might not make sense to you, but that’s just how it is sometimes.
My point is different people are going to find different things offensive.
One of the reasons I initially used the word freely is because everyone I’ve encountered in my personal life has not minded, or openly encouraged it, so I don’t think twice.
If I was aware of Frink’s issue I definitely would not have used it because I don’t want to intentionally push people’s hot buttons, no matter how much I may not like them. But nobody can be expected to just know what they “can and can’t say” around someone, that’s too much.
I know I said I wouldn’t add anything more to the discussion but I felt that was relevant; the world isn’t black and white.
Now I’m actually not going to keep adding because this has gone on way too long 😛