[pct-l] Hiking alone

[Denis Stanton]

On 28/10/2007, at 12:18 PM, Greg Kesselring wrote:

> Why is someone using the word "paranoid" considered rude??  It's  
> just a word that describes a state of mind.

Actually it's a word that describes a mental disorder, a subtype of  
schizophrenia, according to the definitions found by a Google search  
for "define: paranoid". From this definition I can quite understand  
how someone could be offended at the implication.

The word has become commonly used by people not intending to be rude  
and I'm sure that the original poster on pct-l intended it in a non- 
offensive way.  She might have said "excessive caution"

Denis