Paid Members Monkee 1,097 Posted March 7, 2013 Paid Members Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 I think they're deemed offensive regardless of shortening the name. I remembered this story from the BBC last year about a woman who had one in her window and the neighbour reported her to the police - LINK Link to post Share on other sites
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator 3,752 Posted March 7, 2013 Awards Moderator Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 My mum has on occasion used "half caste" which makes me wince. Â I hear older relatives say this sometimes as well, and tend to find that a "you can't say that anymore" will often be met with "...but they are!" Â Then I start reciting John Agard, then it all goes downhill from there. Link to post Share on other sites
Paid Members Carbomb 5,886 Posted March 7, 2013 Paid Members Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Haha! Much like other people, the thread finally broke me and I laughed out loud.. Handlers!  Brilliant.  I've been guilty of using that word, specifically for the purpose of offending people. Link to post Share on other sites
mikey 27 Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 (edited) Speaking of words you can't use anymore, a friend of mine shook his head when I remarked I was doing really well on International Cricket on the XBox 360 due to my brilliant chinaman who is unstoppable from around the wicket. I didn't even realise what I'd said until a while after I said it but I don't think the word had such a negative influence as it does in the US. I recall an American I know taking exception to my usage of the words Orient and Oriental, though in the former case I was ranting about the football club from Leyton. Is that now a racist word? Edited March 7, 2013 by mikey Link to post Share on other sites
Keith Houchen 18,413 Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 When visiting my grandparents once I was wearing a t-shirt with Richard Pryors face on it. My nan asked 'Which one's that then? Daley Thompson?' Â That's a harking back to a time when the only black faces on television were Lenny Henry (honorary white), Daley Thompson and Paul Danquah from Jackanory. How dare you forget about Floella Benjeman and Derek Griffiths. Link to post Share on other sites
Paid Members Carbomb 5,886 Posted March 7, 2013 Paid Members Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Speaking of words you can't use anymore, a friend of mine shook his head when I remarked I was doing really well on International Cricket on the XBox 360 due to my brilliant chinaman who is unstoppable from around the wicket. I didn't even realise what I'd said until a while after I said it but I don't think the word had such a negative influence as it does in the US. I recall an American I know taking exception to my usage of the words Orient and Oriental, though in the former case I was ranting about the football club from Leyton. Is that now a racist word? Â "Oriental" is racist in the US, as they tend to use it more to describe items like rugs and whatnot, but I've never heard of it being referred to as racist here. Â Keep in mind that the word "black" is "officially" racist in the US as well, though. Link to post Share on other sites
Ronnie 650 Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 My mum has on occasion used "half caste" which makes me wince. People do use it in total innocence, though. Â One of my uncles got himself vexed during the World Cup when the Daily Mail decided to give people the idea that police were banning fans from wearing football shirts, joining thousands of others in playing prolier than thou on Facebook. He made the doubly idiotic comment "are they gonna ban muslims from wearing their turbans?" and was rightly picked up on it by several people. He emerged online later in the day a very angry man: Â "HOW DARE YOU CALL ME RACIST I'VE GOT HALF CASTE SON!" Â And it's true. He and his missus broke up for a couple of months, during which time she became pregnant by a black fellow and my uncle's raised the child as his own and equal to their other kids. The name's tattooed on his hand and everything. Link to post Share on other sites
WildSybianRider 0 Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Someone get a documentary crew and Barry Hearn to the States asap. Link to post Share on other sites
Moderators Astro Hollywood 3,742 Posted March 7, 2013 Moderators Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Keep in mind that the word "black" is "officially" racist in the US as well, though. Â [citation needed] Link to post Share on other sites
Ronnie 650 Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 (edited) Keep in mind that the word "black" is "officially" racist in the US as well, though. Yeah, that's a strange attitude, considering "white" is still in free use and that "person of color" is considered an improvement. Â I can't recall where it took place but I facepalmed at some American over here once referring to a black British athlete/comedian/celebrity/whatever as an "African-American". Edited March 7, 2013 by Ronnie Link to post Share on other sites
mikey 27 Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 "Oriental" is racist in the US, as they tend to use it more to describe items like rugs and whatnot, but I've never heard of it being referred to as racist here. Keep in mind that the word "black" is "officially" racist in the US as well, though.  I find the term Caucasian to be greatly offensive. Link to post Share on other sites
Moderators Chest Rockwell 7,873 Posted March 7, 2013 Moderators Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 My mum has on occasion used "half caste" which makes me wince. She also used to refer to the two blokes who owned a local pub as "Darren the queer" and "Ray the gay". Lovely. She doesn't do it malisciously though (not that that's an excuse) but coming from Wales most people have a "the something" after their names. My mum's friend is still known as "Linda the cafe" despite her not owning a cafe since 1986. There's a family known as "the coals" because the father used to deliver coal so he's "Lyn the coal", his wife is "Sandra the coal" and the kids are Ross and Ryan the coal respectively. There's also "Betty the shop", "Wilf the shop" and "Brenda the shop" although it gets confusing as they all relate to different shops... I digress.  I've never heard of this before. I gotta say it's pretty odd. Link to post Share on other sites
Paid Members Carbomb 5,886 Posted March 7, 2013 Paid Members Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Keep in mind that the word "black" is "officially" racist in the US as well, though. Â [citation needed] Â Can't provide one, sorry. I've drawn this conclusion largely from lots of American broadcasts where formality seems to require the phrase "African-American" rather than "black". It's almost like there's an "official" informality where "black" is allowed, but completely prohibited in such things as political speeches and news broadcasts. Link to post Share on other sites
Paid Members Chris B 5,025 Posted March 7, 2013 Paid Members Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Speaking of dogs - and this is one that's come from the elderly work colleagues - apparently it used to be quite common for black labradors to be called Nigger. Said colleagues didn't quite grasp why this would now be considered unthinkable. Â My family moved to rural Ireland in 1991. We got a small black dog, and were trying to decide what to call it. Three separate neighbours suggested calling it 'nigger', and were completely serious. It was the same kind of automatic suggestion as calling a dog with a patch 'Patch'. They didn't get why we wouldn't do it. Â We had a Great-Uncle from Manchester visit once, who spent a week there and loved it. Before he left, the last thing he said to my Dad was 'It's great over here. For God's sake, don't let the blacks move into the area and ruin it'. Link to post Share on other sites
Richie Freebird 40 Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 My mother-in-law once made the point that she didn't understand why a woman would want to be with another woman because they wouldn't have a man around to help them open any particularly tight jar lids. Speaking of that kind of attitude, it reminded me of an old TV advert that I saw on youtube the other day, where they'd designed a double thick car tire, for the highly unlikely event that a woman would be driving alone and would be completely fucked, should she get a flat. You can see it at 1:00 of . The whole compilation there is pretty crazy, actually. It seems completely bizarre by today's standards to hear Barbara Streisand say Link to post Share on other sites
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