Thread: Oy, Britishers, help me out here!

thats whats so funny about old books.

Originally Posted by Angel_of_Death-NZ

thats whats so funny about old books.

I bought a second-hand German grammar book from 1969. It didn't even mention the 'du' (informal) form of 'you' . Only 'sie' (formal). It's 'so anal' by today's standards. Though it probably was retentive even back then too. I only bought it for 2$, though.

Man, I have a German grammar book from 1914. They print the German in "Fraktur."

Im talking about how old books use words such as "gay", "bastard", and "bitch" in ways we dont use today. It makes it funny when a 1920s book reads "I was so gay when that old bitch made it home."

Gay is my sister's name therefore I only use this word as its original meaning intended out of respect for her.

The same is with "голубой" and "кончить" in Russian, for example. 15 years ago it would be normal for a university professor to say "на этом я хотел бы кончить". 10 years ago there were many giggles in the auditorium. Today I don't think anyone ever say "кончить" instead of "закончить" in this case. And when even senior people have to use the word "голубой" in the most neutral meaning, they always stumble over it and look embarassed.

Because there are many many many more Pakistanis, Indians, Bangledeshi's etc. in the UK than East Asians. We use the term Asian for West Asians, or Pakis.
We call East Asians, Orientals, Chinks, or Slant-eyes :P

We call East Asians, Orientals, Chinks, or Slant-eyes

Fuck you.

Originally Posted by Pravit

We call East Asians, Orientals, Chinks, or Slant-eyes

Fuck you.

You spelt it wrong. It's f@#$%&*k you! And you call yourself a linguist.

I wonder if the reaction from the forum would have been the same had he said "We call Africans n*ggers."

BTW, TATY, I don't know what passes for funny in the UK these days(I thought British humor was of the "witty", or good type), but randomly stopping by a semi-dead post to spout some racial slurs and then slapping on an ambiguously gay smiley doesn't count as "funny" in my book. I knew you were an idiot, but I figured you knew such words are highly offensive.

He probally would have got a negative reaction if he said anything bad about any race.

He said something bad about Asians, yet the only negative reaction was from me(and yes, I am an East Asian, if you haven't figured it out by now, TATY).

I honestly didnt even pay attention to his post untill you said something. Although im not East Asain and it dosent offend me personally, it does bother me to see racism and stereotyping. TATY I hope you honestly dont feel that way.

Originally Posted by TATY

Because there are many many many more Pakistanis, Indians, Bangledeshi's etc. in the UK than East Asians. We use the term Asian for West Asians, or Pakis.
We call East Asians, Orientals, Chinks, or Slant-eyes :P

I don’t know who TATY intended to be included in the ‘We’ above, but it does not include me. The words ‘Pakis’, ‘Orientals’, ‘Chinks’ and ‘Slant-eyes’ are offensive. Please don’t use them.

Statistics on ethnicity in the UK:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=764

Originally Posted by Pravit

He said something bad about Asians, yet the only negative reaction was from me

I’m sorry Pravit that I didn’t respond earlier, but I have been away from this Forum and I have only just seen the post.

At least good old Maik has his head screwed on straight. For a moment there, I had almost lost hope in the British

Wait a minute, since when and why would "Orientals" be included as offensive? I mean, if you are from the Orient you pretty much have no choice other than to be Oriental.

Originally Posted by DDT

Wait a minute, since when and why would "Orientals" be included as offensive? I mean, if you are from the Orient you pretty much have no choice other than to be Oriental.

I understand your point DDT. I did think about that myself for a bit, but 'orientals' sounds offensive to me.

Have a look here for a view: dictionary.reference.com >>> n. often Oriental Often Offensive. An Asian.

My own view is that if there could be any doubt, don't use it.

I don't consider the word "Oriental" to be offensive, actually, just out-of-date, as I've said a couple times in this thread.

My friends and I mock each other with words that in other mouths, we simply would not trust. Or, we use the terms in affectionate expression. But... we've been provided with evidence of each other's neutrality of attitude. So, the exchange is known to be affectionate, and most often a play on racism itself. But, it needs to be realized that with strangers, it's different. Many people have only experienced such words coming out of the mouths of people who just don't give a cr@p about their racial experience. And strangers haven't experience any reason to trust our usage. So, offence is a plausible response to expect.

In written word, much more care needs to be taken. Because, the 'way' one says the same word changes it completely, and who you're with when you say it. TATY's post was at least carelessly expressed. But, I thought there was enough ambiguity as to it's seriousness that I left it alone. Admittedly TATY, from a stranger's pint of view, it didn't 'sound' like you cared if it came across that way. I'm not saying you don't care. But, the point is, it's hard to tell. Facial and tonal expressions don't come across on the page. So, it 'reads' like you don't care, even if you actually do.

I can understand people using such terms in the context of close friends joking about with each other, but even in that sense I don't like it. But it is certainly not acceptable coming from someone you don't know. Even if taken in the context of an attempt at humour, it was a really crappy one. And you are likely to piss off more people than you amuse. For this reason I suggest you not to use the term "n*gger" with black people, even if you are joking around. As part of the overwhelming White majority you do not know the offense that these words cause and you should not use them.