"Do you think this "racist" or derogatory?" Topic

@mmitchell

"Inflammatory words like Injun, the N-word, Chink, gook, and other racial slurs are not allowed, nor do they have any place in a rule book that has a PG-13 rating and is suitable for kids and adults."

That's interesting you spell out the other racial slurs but the "N-Word". Why?

The N-word was buried and if you say spell it out it might rise from the dead:

link

Ben Waterhouse: Out of necessity, actually. I do not think anyone would guess what I was talking about if I wrote "the G-Word or the I-Word."

This is one of the things about language that leaves me scratching my head.

A word s offensive so we make up another word THAT MEANS THE SAME THING. Then we can use that word and not offend anyone?? Think about it.

This isn't specific to the N-word of course and applies to the other alphabet words and euphemisms as well.

Crazy :)

Surely the most effective way of dealing with offensive terms would be to not reference them at all.

EDIT: Outside of historical context, of course. I do dislike it when older matietial is sanitized for "modern" audiences.

Prior to this "discussion" the word Peon/Peone was just a word that meant poor unskilled laborer, to me. Now after reading all this and achieving greater illumination, in the future Peon/Peone will mean "poor unskilled laborer," to me.

>>A word s offensive so we make up another word THAT MEANS THE SAME THING. Then we can use that word and not offend anyone?? Think about it.<<

Well, we all know that a euphemism is "the act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive". So when the relatively inoffensive term "abortion", which was substituted for the very direct term "induced miscarraige", became part of our language, and everyone knew what "pro-abortion" meant, the euphemistic and very indirect term "pro-choice" had to be invented. It's the substitution of a positive term for what what might be considered a negative term. And oddly enough, it works! Now don't send me nasty pro or anti abortion posts OK? I'm just talking about euphemisms, not making any sort of political statement.

It's all a bit like referring to M****** as "the Scottish Play" and not saying Candlejack three times really isn't it??

: )

Or my other favorite. "Laid off" became "downsized", then became "correct sized". I'm sure all of the people that have been "correct sized" are much happier than being "laid off". :-) I wonder if the children that were "aborted" are happier now knowing that they were "choiced".

And you'd better be careful about saying Candlejack three time or y….

It's political correctness gone differently minded…