Likely the best Charlie Hebdo solidarity sign yet.....

[Playinghardball]

[FSogol]

2. One of my favorite The Onion articles:

God Angrily Clarifies 'Don't Kill' Rule
News • God • ISSUE 37•34 • Sep 26, 2001

NEW YORK—Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday.

"Look, I don't know, maybe I haven't made myself completely clear, so for the record, here it is again," said the Lord, His divine face betraying visible emotion during a press conference near the site of the fallen Twin Towers. "Somehow, people keep coming up with the idea that I want them to kill their neighbor. Well, I don't. And to be honest, I'm really getting sick and tired of it. Get it straight. Not only do I not want anybody to kill anyone, but I specifically commanded you not to, in really simple terms that anybody ought to be able to understand."

Worshiped by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike, God said His name has been invoked countless times over the centuries as a reason to kill in what He called "an unending cycle of violence."

"I don't care how holy somebody claims to be," God said. "If a person tells you it's My will that they kill someone, they're wrong. Got it? I don't care what religion you are, or who you think your enemy is, here it is one more time: No killing, in My name or anyone else's, ever again."

Rest at:


http://www.theonion.com/articles/god-angrily-clarifies-dont-kill-rule,222/

[oberliner]

10. Except not

The character of God calls for killing throughout the Bible and Koran.

[roguevalley]

15. no. people of another time said he did. they still do

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Greatest Page for this great image! n/t

[Denzil_DC]

4. That's got to be from the UK! n/t

[MineralMan]

5. I can't agree. By using a mysogynistic

slur, they have ruined their message. There are plenty of other words they could have used. Why choose that one? It is an insult to women, who had nothing to do with any of this.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

6. Maybe their message is ruined for you,

but as a Brit I get it.

[Throd]

7. If I understand correctly, it has a different meaning in England, no?

Not quite so gender specific?

[LordGlenconner]

12. It's common in the lexicon

It basically means the same as "moron" or "dumb ass" or "ass hole" in the United States.

For example, stop killing people, you dumb asses.

In the context of how it was used in the picture it's no more a slur than calling someone a dick in America.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

13. Yes,

you are correct. Same can be said of the 'see you next Tuesday' word.

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. It's not a mysogynistic slur in the UK; it generally has a similar connotation to "asshole".

American English usage isn't a global standard. (It's also pronounced differently in the UK; rhymes with "hat", not "hot".) For instance see this from a UK feminist blog:

By recognising that sexist attitudes and the problems that stem from them are largely a product of socialisation we can began to tackle the root causes of women's oppression and work towards a freer, fairer society. Doesn't mean Jimmy Carr isn't a twat (IMHO), or that misogyny in comedy is OK, but at least we know that things can change.

http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2009/04/question_time_w

[Playinghardball]

9. That word now has a new meaning...

It's an acronym for The War Against Terrorism.....

[oberliner]

11. The slang is different in UK vs. US

Means something different to us here.

[Denzil_DC]

14. "Twat" is generally a less loaded term in the UK.

It can indeed be used as a more obscure and somewhat less shocking term than "that c-word" for the same part of the female body, but it's not as commonly used in that sense.

You could use "twat" in the non-anatomical sense in social circles in the UK where "that c-word" would be deemed shocking and inappropriate.

It's more commonly understood as akin to "twit," partly because of the two words' similarities, and to an extent has replaced that nowadays slightly old-fashioned term to describe somebody who's an idiot, but ineffectual enough to be relatively harmless. IOW, it's more likely to be used jokily than purely offensively.

So in this context it's an interesting word to use (with apologies to any non-UK women or others who may take exception to it), as it belittles the murderers, rather than crediting them with some sort of power and status their murderous, well-armed act doesn't warrant. It's a sort of counterpoint to the current hysteria.

You still may not consider it appropriate or amusing, but I think that's a fair explanation of the cultural background.