The N word

[The_Dude 1,142]

I always wondered what June Cleaver would look like in a teddy and heels.

That is so creepy it's not even funny. She owned a restaurant near my parents house and down the street from my uncles shop. We used to go there once a month, and until she got really old, she was always there, really nice woman.

[tmma 467]

That is so creepy it's not even funny. ..........................

It's just sooooooooo Kip, though. I admit , it made me snork , but it is an odd thought.

[Captain Oates 911]

I know what you say is totally correct---but lets not pretend that there wasn't and still isn't a good deal of racism and prejudice in England too. Just sayin'

There was racism in the large cities and that was well documented. Especially when significant migration from the West Indies started - but that was later. There was also a sort of 'benign' feeling towards black people - for instance the marmalade logo was used because people felt warm and cuddly about the little black child. They wouldn't use a logo on jam if it was a hate symbol because they were selling a nice feeling 'comfort' product. Of course its all screamingly unacceptable in 2011, just like George Washington's slaves, but in its historical period, it wasn't the way we judge it through our present time

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Political correctness has been overstretched. Let me give you an example, but before I do that, can somebody who's fluent in Spanish translate the word "black" into Spanish? How about Latin?

Allrighty then. True story.

Young lady was raped by a black dude on the way home. She reports it to the police and uses the word "black." When the cop hands her the report to sign it, she reads that the attacker was listed as an African-American male. She corrects the cop, tells him that she had no chance to check the rapist's citizenship status; for all she knows it could have been a tourist from Kenya, or a guy who may live in London, England, so there's no way of claiming it was an African-American. She knows he was about 6'2" tall, black with typical negroid facial identifiers, but more she could not state without guessing.

And she's right. We are so politically correct now, that it has become incorrect to a point where it hurts the brain.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Political correctness has been overstretched. Let me give you an example, but before I do that, can somebody who's fluent in Spanish translate the word "black" into Spanish? How about Latin?

The fact that "Hebrew" is a real word does not mean that "Hebe" is acceptable. You have to consider the connotation of words as well as the etymology.

Allrighty then. True story.

Young lady was raped by a black dude on the way home. She reports it to the police and uses the word "black." When the cop hands her the report to sign it, she reads that the attacker was listed as an African-American male. She corrects the cop, tells him that she had no chance to check the rapist's citizenship status; for all she knows it could have been a tourist from Kenya, or a guy who may live in London, England, so there's no way of claiming it was an African-American. She knows he was about 6'2" tall, black with typical negroid facial identifiers, but more she could not state without guessing.

And she's right. We are so politically correct now, that it has become incorrect to a point where it hurts the brain.

I agree with the point you are making here.

[_Simpson_ 250]

How times change as to what words are acceptable in society

When I went to Aireborough Grammar School in Yorkshire in the 1960's we had a spinster music teacher called Miss Mathers

She taught us to sing sea shanties. The best one was Johnny come down to Hilo

This is what we sang in our 100% government funded school:

I never seen the like

sin I been born

When a big buck <nword> with his sea boots on

Said Johnny come down to Hilo

Poor old man

The other song was was

Well I came to a river

and I couldn't get across

Singing polly wolly doodle all the day

So I jumped on <nword> coz I thought he was a hoss

Singing polly wolly doodle all the day

Imagine that in an English or American State school now ! But it was quite normal with no malice behind it

Me and my dad worked with a black guy unloading coal trucks by hand and it didn't even register that he was black - he was just Walter and he had been a pro boxer with the title of 'kid chocolate'

His name was Walter Ingram and he was a big friend of me and my dad (my father and I) and him and his wife and my mother and father used to go boozing together every Saturday night

Then I left school and after a couple of years I joined the police force where up to a month before, they had regularly arrested men suspected of homosexuality and imprisoned them.

Now the country is being run by homosexuals as far as I can see on the telly

So this controversy about Rick Perry's stone inscribed with the nword should be put in context. The invective and force behind it in racist circles has not always been attached to the word - not in England anyway. My mother used to go to a shop called 'Brown Muffs' (really ) and buy her handbags - various colors but she liked the ones labelled <nword> brown ! Yes that's how they were labelled in the shops in Bradford.

I think any word can be made into a bad word according to how its used. The spastics society had to change to 'SCOPE' when all the kids called other kids <s-word>

So the kids starting calling each other 'SCOPES' and that became powerful

Now 'community organizer' is a term of abuse and I am trying to get 'job creator' disrespected.

So the nword has its power from places where it was used as a lash and I can understand people hating it in that context - but I can never ask for boots in <nword> brown again - that's a shame because it was a beautiful color and it was used as innocently as 'cherry red' at the time.

We should remember how recently all this was normal when we think of George Washington's slaves

Silliness is silliness regardless to what a word means to you.

[Captain Oates 911]

And she's right. We are so politically correct now, that it has become incorrect to a point where it hurts the brain.

I reckon any word can be turned into an unacceptable word

As you say, the Spanish/Portuguese word for black is now offensive and I have actually seen reports where the word is said to be a corruption of the word 'denigrate'. That is really stupid and a ridiculous distortion and stretch. As you say, it's Spanish Portuguese for black

Another word which got Enoch Powell into trouble was the word piccanniny meaning a small black child. If I were black I would see that word as being as much a sin as the nword so lets call it the P word

However, Portuguese for the little child is - 'pequenino' so the take away is...

Both the N word and the P word set off as about as innocent and inoffensive as it is possible to get and only the use of it by racists/supremacists etc have made these words into bad words. Exactly the same as 'spastic' or retard was turned into an abuse word at school. The old censuses would use words like dolt or retard as a perfectly normal descriptor of who lived in a house.

What fascinates me is what current words which are 'just fine' now will be spoken in hushed terms in 30 years time.

I can't predict. Perhaps 'Asian' will be dirty word and we will be referring to the 'A' word. Apparently 'Retard' is now unacceptable although I had a retard lever on my old car for retarding the ignition. That would have to be the 'R' lever if I bought an old car and needed it repaired

All this is of academic interest to me and in no way do I think we should hit people with terms that are offensive or have become offensive and previously were not.

However I do take issue with the colleges inventing stories like the nword comes from 'denigrate' because that's a bigger stretch than Chris Christie's waist band.

Edited October 6, 2011 by Austin Devon

[faust-yusov 103]

Allrighty then. True story.

Young lady was raped by a black dude on the way home. She reports it to the police and uses the word "black." When the cop hands her the report to sign it, she reads that the attacker was listed as an African-American male. She corrects the cop, tells him that she had no chance to check the rapist's citizenship status; for all she knows it could have been a tourist from Kenya, or a guy who may live in London, England, so there's no way of claiming it was an African-American. She knows he was about 6'2" tall, black with typical negroid facial identifiers, but more she could not state without guessing.

And she's right. We are so politically correct now, that it has become incorrect to a point where it hurts the brain.

You just can't get raped by a black man like you used to, can you? IT'S POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD.

Manipulative, execrable, deleterious bile, and in all likelihood fabricated.

[sandinista! 1,816]

You just can't get raped by a black man like you used to, can you? IT'S POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD.

Manipulative, execrable, deleterious bile, and in all likelihood fabricated.

and how.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You just can't get raped by a black man like you used to, can you? IT'S POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD.

Manipulative, execrable, deleterious bile, and in all likelihood fabricated.

Yeah that story sounded like BS to me too.

[Captain Oates 911]

Back to the point. We cant say currently blocked words so lets identify the ones that are ok now but wont be

What modern words will become PC blocked during the next 30 years

It's so hard to see in advance

When I was a kid, a person using the word 'bloody' in a pub would be asked to leave my the manager - now you can hear the kids effin and blinding and much more - and all with with gusto. Gusto is there every evening

It's hard to know especially in American which is a totally different language. For instance a 'gang bang' in the UK is a girl having sex with a number of men at the same time. Gary Glitter was the 'man who put the bang in gang'. In the USA a 'gang banger' is the shooter for a gang in a drive by shooting for instance.

In England, it may be that expressions which come from the era of Empire will be resented more and more by citizens of the Empire who hate it so much and yet chose to come and live in the viper's nest.

In the USA, the time scale will have to be moved up so that words from say the 60's can be declared person non grata. Perhaps 'Afro' hairdo will be a non-no. I liked Afro hair does, so that would be a shame.

It's weird but any suggestion of which of today's words will qualify in 50 years would seem laughable right now. Whichever words are chosen, it wont be the word - it will be the invective and hatred behind it that is resented. Rush Limbaugh gets away with 'oreoles' and other use 'nappy headed' etc and we can be sure that these are for the chop - big style and quite rightly.

Limey seems ok still but Paddy and Kraut are iffy. They all had innocent roots - a lot of people would have friends called 'Paddy' and limes and kraut were just what people ate. That's all gone and that Jade contestant on big brother had to be fired because she refereed to a South East Asian contestant as 'poppadom'.

Again, it wasn't the word, poppadums are great - it was the kick behind it.

So we cant pick words on how they sound, we have to wait until they are used maliciously before we know which ones will get banned

'Community organizer' raises a sneer of hatred already but its too long a phrase - these things are usually one word

I reckon 'Latino' might have changed into the barred category in 50 years but it seems ridiculous from this perspective

I don't know if 'Mulatto' is there already.

'Sally Brown's a bright Mulatto' was in our sea shanties taught in music class at school

Bet it isn't now.

Edited October 6, 2011 by Austin Devon

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

What is the point of this sort of speculation?

[Captain Oates 911]

What is the point of this sort of speculation?

Its for speculators

The results will be buried in a time capsule at the back of sunshine desserts and opened in 30 years to see how we are doing

It is, imagining the unimaginable Reggy - and being prepared for it

I did not get where I am today by not imagining the unimaginable

Now get to it and find your first candidate and leave no worm unturned

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It's pointless is what it is.

[Captain Oates 911]

It's pointless is what it is.

like a broken pencil....pointless

I think it might be amusing to be the first person to actually redefine a word as unacceptable.

Think how proud you would be if everyone in the USA was frightened to say a word simply because you were the first one to say it was now bad - and it caught on !

That would be more lasting fame than a peace prize - which O won and nobody remembers

I think 'oreoles' is now tainted by Limbaugh and they should be renamed 'equality cookies' which would create a warm glow all around

Edited October 6, 2011 by Austin Devon