Spaz is a slang term for someone who is disabled or has a physical disability.
It’s been used in the UK since the 1980s, but it has recently been given renewed attention by TV shows such as Little Britain and The Office. However, its history goes back much further than that.
The word spaz comes from spastic, which was first used in the 1950s to describe people with cerebral palsy. The word was later extended to include other disabilities such as epilepsy and muscular dystrophy. Spastic has now fallen out of favour because of its offensive connotations.
