Thread: Jetzt geht die Party richtig los!

Yep No matter what you say it is offensive.

Check out Mike Tyson in the new Russian olympic uniform

You both said the "B" word, you racists!!! Aww, crap, I implied it, so I am also racist... It's not true, I just hate everyone!!!
-Fantom

Ok, so I have to ask... What's with Mike Tyson and the Russian Olympic team???
-Fantom

Originally Posted by fantom605

Ok, so I have to ask... What's with Mike Tyson and the Russian Olympic team???
-Fantom

I'm just not able to understand what he is doing there

What's the address you got them from? Maybe someone can read it and shed some light on the subject...
-Fantom

http://dni.ru/news/sport/2005/9/15/69874.html

I thought it was a fake! As far as I understand the link you gave proves the opposite. Did you read the article?

Nice uniform, I must say.

I am getting racially confused. I was taught always to say African American, but all my African American friends call themselves "black". So I use the term "black" so neutral it has a PH value of 7...

Originally Posted by ReDSanchous

I thought it was a fake! As far as I understand the link you gave proves the opposite. Did you read the article?

I haven't read it yet.

I think African American is out of use or getting that way. To me it sounds silly.

I have several black friends.

I say that because that's what I call them, my black friends. They don't get offended, I think they would if I called them "my African-American friends". Yeah, that term is outdated...
-Fantom

Hey, do they call you "my white friend"? Is it okay at all?

No, they don't, and unfortunately, it's implied. I didn't make the rules, and I don't comply to them.. I refer to myself as a "Cracker", I actually find it humorous, but I am sure that some wouuld be offended by it.
Some white people would find it offensive to hear Bernie Mac call Matt Damon a "Cracker-ass-cracker" in "Ocean's Eleven", but I find it hilarious. Yes, I am a cracker. Also, I am a gringo. I'm sure I have many other names in other cultures, and I embrace them all. I am all of those. I don't mean it in sarcastic terms, no matter what anyone thinks.
-Fantom

I see your point. Really, why worry.

Originally Posted by Rtyom

I see your point. Really, why worry.

Exactamente, mi amigo

-Fantom

или "Точно, мой друг"

-Фантом

I am also a honky gringo cracker. I think it is hillarious!

I once worked on this ranch where we had a high turnover. After a while we got a new Cowboss but found ourselves in the position of not having anyone left on the cowboy crew who could tell the new boss the names of all the horses.

One day we were in the corral with the boss and the manager and his wife, surrounded by about 80 head of horses. A Mexican named Juan who spoke very poor English was the only one left who knew these horses. He was trying to help the cowboss get a handle on what horse was what and which ones were safe to ride and which ones would like to kill you. The boss had a note pad and a polaroid camera with him and Jaun would say the name of each horse as it was caught and identified.

There was one horse that kept hanging around us like a lost dog. It would have been easy to catch but Jaun for some reason kept avoiding this horse like as if he didn't notice him. Finally we came to the end of the herd. The last horse. It turned out of course to be the same horse that Juan kept avoiding. The horse is led up to Juan and Jaun says in a thick Spanish accent, " Oh, I don' know the name of this horse. I don' remember."
Well, when I heard this it raised an eyebrow. I walked over to Jaun when the bosses were not paying attention and said, " Juan, what's the matter with you. You and I both know that name of this horses is "Gringo".
Jaun goes, "Oh, I know, but I can not say this name to these people.
I said, "Ah that's crazy Juan. No body cares about that word "gringo" . Especially the people around here.
Juan was adamant and said, "No, I won't say this name. It is a bad word in Mexico"

That horse was previously on Juan's string and I think that Juan himself gave the name to the horse in the first place. Pretty funny, I thought. In the end I believe that horse had to be given a new name. LOL!!

Ah, sorry. Just felt like typing.

Aah, yes, I forgot about "honky"

That's a good story, and so true. One of my Russian friends will say "f---er" and "sh--" all day long, but I have never heard her swear in Russian. (well, ok, she did teach me one particular phrase, but we won't get into that! ) She said that since English wasn't her first language, she has no problem swearing in it, but in Russian, she would feel bad or be embarrassed. Same for me, I can swear in Spanish all day long (although I have to watch what I say here in Southern California), but I don't in English out loud too much...

-Fantom

I quite agree with you. I remember being quite embarrassed at one of the lessons of the course I took in Toronto this summer. Our teacher asked us to write a few words on the whiteboard in our first languages. Just for fun. She also said that we were able to write swearwords if we felt like doing so. When me and a friend of mine came up to the board and started thinking about what to write we suddenly found ourselves feeling quite embarrassed. Eventually, we decided to write a couple of swearwords in Russian just for fun. When we wrote them our teacher asked us to pronounce them so she and the rest of the group could practice pronouncing them. It was so funny! I fondly remember Italians and Mexicans swearing in Russian. The funniest thing was that they didn't understand at all that what they were saying was obscene. I believe that the reason why people can easily swear in foreign languages is they don't get that it sounds obscene to most native speakers.

Absolutley right. Swearing in a foreign language when the latter isn't spoken much at your place does no harm. No one around puts not even the slightest sense in them. In this case we may look at words just like at words only, unfilled with meanings. Sounds which make up some words, unfamilair in your culture. And we can say it's all about meanings people invent, and then it comes to cultural levels.

I try not to swear in English, but sometimes...

Hoewver some years ago my sister having heard me saying an f-word told me not to do this. So here we see a case of levelling of the two concepts of swearing, the one of Russian and the one of English.

It depends how comformtable you are in the language. I won't go to some old lady in Russia and say "Твою м**!", because she will die of a heart attack. If people think you are a foreigner they are more forgiving with swear words, but if they think that you speak well enough russian to converse, they might not be so forgiving...