tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403642865904161814.post1446720671967864451..comments2023-10-17T05:19:48.148-04:00Comments on Rose-coloured: Vocabulary Rant: PC editionRebecca Rosenblumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10859985178895250412noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403642865904161814.post-81682415045755913042009-10-08T20:39:27.578-04:002009-10-08T20:39:27.578-04:00Ah, niggardly-- brings back memories, eh RR??
I w...Ah, niggardly-- brings back memories, eh RR??<br /><br />I want to know though-- who says "jew down". Really?? I do think that term is officially dead (and good riddance).Kerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13169971552802919035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403642865904161814.post-87775657121864929922009-10-08T15:56:29.379-04:002009-10-08T15:56:29.379-04:00August, I think it's the intent behind languag...August, I think it's the intent behind language to a certain degree. Despite the death of author, I usually think I *can* tell what someone means by c*nt, and it's rarely very nice. Similarly, I don't like to hear "jew down," "JAP," or similar because they mean something negative and they mean that that negative thing is a *part of* my cultural make up. Words like "cheap" or "spoiled" divorce the personality flaws from the fact of Jewishness.<br /><br />The "niggardly" thing makes a mockery of even owning a dictionary--what's the point if both the speaker's intent *and* the word's history are irrelevant. Why not just grunt and point, really?Rebecca Rosenblumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10859985178895250412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403642865904161814.post-24508078521336121132009-10-08T14:01:03.271-04:002009-10-08T14:01:03.271-04:00I think it's ultimately a fool's errand to...I think it's ultimately a fool's errand to try and revamp speech patterns based on etymology, if for no other reason than because the etymology of many words---slang terms and curse words in particular--is often hotly contested. (When I was studying Chaucer, my prof brought up all the competing etymologies for 'the C word', which Chaucer employs a number of times; the most likely of which turned out to be the 12th Century Dutch root of 'quaint', which at the time meant 'delicately folded'.)<br /><br />The point being, is that words that sound offensive to our ears now probably more often than not will not have entymologies as reliably traceable as the ones mentioned here, or will wind up having nothing offensive behind them at all. Remember the furor a couple years ago when that Senator or Congressman or whatever used the word 'niggardly' in a speech? The root of that word is in Old Norse and has to do with money, where as the the root of the word that everybody associated it with is from Latin. The two words have nothing in common in terms of root or connotation, but the man was made to apologize anyway.<br /><br />Better, I think, to teach our children not to be jerks (by example as much as by rote), and they will figure out the language for themselves.Augusthttp://www.vestige.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403642865904161814.post-91678466107643838822009-10-08T12:47:51.755-04:002009-10-08T12:47:51.755-04:00I don't know, but for myself a lot of this is ...I don't know, but for myself a lot of this is about education and intentionality. I feel bad about the Gypsy thing now, and paddy wagon, which I'd never thought of before. I think this stuff should be taught in school. Like, the choice to use these words has to be up to the individual, but we should at least know what we're dealing with.<br /><br />For example, swearing is offensive to some and not others, but we all know what those words mean and the chance we take using them, and also possibly when to avoid doing so.Rebecca Rosenblumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10859985178895250412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403642865904161814.post-52052078483478238412009-10-08T09:13:04.993-04:002009-10-08T09:13:04.993-04:00Paddy Wagon. Indian Giver. The French Disease.
I ...Paddy Wagon. Indian Giver. The French Disease.<br /><br />I got a million of 'em.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403642865904161814.post-18107643646618235062009-10-08T03:28:44.345-04:002009-10-08T03:28:44.345-04:00also...
whoop it up
(as in, really enjoy oneself...also...<br /><br />whoop it up<br /><br />(as in, really enjoy oneself, as at a party)<br /><br />seeing as it is insulting to first nations peoples.<br /><br />this one is such a part of the vernacular, though, i'm not sure it really registers on most people's radars...Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403642865904161814.post-82657511609884563282009-10-07T19:22:02.357-04:002009-10-07T19:22:02.357-04:00I love this post! I've been trying not to use...I love this post! I've been trying not to use the word hysterical either, though it's difficult. Every time I've been tempted to use it in my novel, I've looked at the sentence and decided it was trivializing whatever it was my character was trying to say. But I might use it in a fight scene...because I think it really is insulting.<br /><br />Hmmm, another term along these lines that you hear less, but still occasionally is Indian giver. (!! yikes)saleemahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05346680913572656707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403642865904161814.post-59830832275933785432009-10-07T15:37:52.480-04:002009-10-07T15:37:52.480-04:00Even the word Gypsy is a slur; it was meant to imp...Even the word Gypsy is a slur; it was meant to imply Egyptian heritage, which was supposedly unclean in some unspecified way. We're actually from Northern India, having left there in two major diasporas (a small one roughly 800 years ago, and a larger one roughly 500 years ago).<br /><br />I'm okay with it if you feel the need to use the term, however. We actually have this really crazy bit of mythology that grants us Divine permission to commit acts of petty theft. :)<br /><br />But when it comes to the needs of fiction, "do what you need to do" is my motto.<br /><br />As for the rest of it, I try not to let politics of any kind (especially identity politics) influence how I speak. I find proscriptive restrictions on speech more offensive than the 'offensive' words themselves. That being said, I also won't go out of my way to use those words, and many I've never used at all, as I've found no reason or situation that would make me think them an appropriate choice.Augusthttp://www.vestige.orgnoreply@blogger.com