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Got told off by everyone today

(278 Posts)
Biscuitmuncher Wed 11-May-22 00:26:32

Was at a lovely Jewellery stall today. For sale was rather expensive gold stacking bangles. I asked how much are the slave bangles, well the man selling them said, " we don't call them that anymore" and my daughters with me were horrified. I feel like the worst person!

Marydoll Thu 12-May-22 12:01:15

Parsley3

Chinkie is not an affectionate term and it is no longer in common use by people who know better eg. my children and their friends.

Thank you Parsley, for clarifying.

25Avalon Thu 12-May-22 12:11:02

What about Kraut, frog and dago?

Marydoll Thu 12-May-22 12:20:04

Not acceptable in my opinion.
Surely no-one uses those terms nowadays?

sodapop Thu 12-May-22 12:24:20

25Avalon

What about Kraut, frog and dago?

I'm always surprised when certain words are accepted in on line word games, dago being one of them.

JenniferEccles Thu 12-May-22 12:26:36

Yes I imagine every single country has nicknames for other nationalities!
I think we are the roast beefs to the French! I can live with that.

Callistemon21 Thu 12-May-22 12:35:58

StarDreamer

Callistemon21 wrote I don't think it would be the Chief Statistician himself who threatened people with fines.

Well the ketter was from the Chief Statistician.

It would be a government decision.

icanhandthemback Thu 12-May-22 12:37:20

volver

And the Brutus thing?

I think that this arguing over whether it is "victims of enslavement" or "slaves" is why some people get up in arms about not being "allowed" to use certain words.

Volver, spot on.

vegansrock Thu 12-May-22 12:39:57

The difference between terms like paki, chinkie , the n word, and Jock, Taffy etc is that the first terms refer to people who have been discriminated and differentiated by their racial characteristics and not just their country of origin. White people may be categorised by their country of origin but they are not socially disadvantaged by their skin colour. Those people who say “ I don’t mind being called Jock”, thereby implying that others shouldn’t mind being called Paki or chinkie, fail to recognise that being called Jock does not imply a skin colour and the consequent disadvantages and discrimination that has traditionally brought.

CatsCatsCats Thu 12-May-22 12:42:20

MissAdventure

Aagh, it's getting worse! I used to own a golliwog!! Never was keen on it - it had buttons for eyes, very creepy.

Galaxy Thu 12-May-22 12:43:36

And I still remember being called kraut as a child. It doesnt particularly upset me anymore if someone uses that term, I just think they are odd and would tend to avoid them.

Marydoll Thu 12-May-22 12:45:28

vegansrock, my thinking exactly. ?

icanhandthemback Thu 12-May-22 12:48:55

The words "Chinkie Nosh" were always used to describe the type of food therefore a lot of people, including myself back in the day, did not consider it to be racist. Although my intent was never to be racist, I can see that it could be so when I was picked up on it, I stopped using the term. I wouldn't have ever used the term to describe a person nor did I know any one did.
When I think about it, it is odd that we call an Indian Meal an "Indian," a Chinese meal a "Chinese" but we never call American, Italian or Spanish meals by their similar names.

Parsley3 Thu 12-May-22 12:50:12

vegansrock my thinking too.

volver Thu 12-May-22 12:55:10

Did anybody watch Life after Life?

She comes back to life in different parallel versions of lots of different worlds. That's what this is like. shock

FarNorth Thu 12-May-22 13:53:24

His slave shows it is his possession.

Wow.

MissAdventure Thu 12-May-22 13:55:03

Well, do we want to pretend otherwise, or water down how slaves were treated?

volver Thu 12-May-22 14:12:24

Here's a thing...

Whenever I'm on one of my pro-Scotland rants on here, somebody will pop up and say "its because you all despise the Sassenachs".

Now nobody under the age of about 90 uses the word Sassenach, unless they are a Gaelic speaker. But it's meant to imply that we are all racist bigots who use derogatory names about the English, isn't it?

FannyCornforth Thu 12-May-22 14:42:02

Marydoll always calls me, ‘my Sassanach pal’ ?

volver Thu 12-May-22 14:51:47

Oh dear. Have I just inadvertently implied Marydoll is a lady of advanced years ☹. Sorry Marydoll!

Marydoll Thu 12-May-22 14:56:30

FannyCornforth

Marydoll always calls me, ‘my Sassanach pal’ ?

Yes, but it is meant to be tongue and cheek Fanny, in no way meant to be derogatory. Now you have landed me right in it. ?I better put my armour on and wait for the onslaught.
As I am a Lowlander, it could also apply to me! wink

NOUN
Scottish and sometimes Irish
an English person or a Lowland Scot
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C18: from Scottish Gaelic Sasunnach, Irish Sasanach, from Late Latin saxonēs Saxons

Marydoll Thu 12-May-22 14:58:59

volver

Oh dear. Have I just inadvertently implied Marydoll is a lady of advanced years ☹. Sorry Marydoll!

I certainly feel ninety at the moment, Volver. However, I know you would would intentionally, ruffle my feathers. You would dare. wink ?

StarDreamer Thu 12-May-22 15:00:31

MissAdventure

Well, do we want to pretend otherwise, or water down how slaves were treated?

No, not at all.

But to describe them as slaves is to use the parlance of the oppressors.

To me they were people who were victims of crime and oppression.

Just because powerful people in Ancient Rome or in Stuart and Georgian England designated some people as being slaves does not mean that we need to regard that as being how they should be described by us. They were human beings who were victims of enslavement.

icanhandthemback Thu 12-May-22 15:01:20

Is the term "Sassenach" a derogatory one? I wouldn't think twice if somebody called me one but maybe my lack of historical knowledge would explain why I'm not offended.

MissAdventure Thu 12-May-22 15:02:19

Yes, that is a good point, taken onboard by me.

MissAdventure Thu 12-May-22 15:04:55

I used to get called a sassenach when I was up in the highlands, in a jokey way.
Perhaps it isn't something to joke about, but I wouldn't know.
Is it something to do with people from the lowlands or something?