Worst Headline Of The Day:"Obama's Rout Rejiggers the Race"

[NWHarkness]

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1707277,00.html

[DJ13]

1. Time has a Hillary supporter as the online editor?

So thats what Bill does in his off hours!

[roguevalley]

51. my grandparents used to say jigger and rejigger to fix things that

were cockeyed. An old time word. Perhaps poorly chosen but correctly applied to the thing (election race.)

[alittlelark]

2. Holy crap, what was the copy editor thinking?

You should put the headline in subject line of your post (if it will fit).

That is amazingly stooopid, lame, pathetic,....

[NWHarkness]

7. Good idea. Done n/t

[caligirl]

22. send the editor a note, click on the authors name and a box appears. I sent

one in with a link back to this thread. Public displeasure needs to reach this publication on this. they deserve a few words of disgust.

[HughMoran]

42. It's been changed to "Obama's Win Reshapes the Race"

:D

[RoveRage]

3. That's about as bad as saying that Obama reniged on a promise.

And yes, I support Obama.

[WinkyDink]

37. Mainly because it's "reneged".

[Stinky The Clown]

4. The local allnewz radio said something about "Snowy White Iowa" in relation to Obama's win there.

We heard it in the car tonight. We both found it instantly jarring.

[grantcart]

5. unbelievable lol

[FloridaJudy]

6. At first I thought this was an Onion headline

But it's for real. What was the writer thinking! Wait. Don't answer that...

[Catherine Vincent]

8. What the hell does "rejigger" mean? nt

[lurky]

9. Adjust.

It's the "sounds like" factor that I think is causing problems.

[FloridaJudy]

11. Nope.

It's a very old racist term for an African American if you remove the first two and last four letters of "rejiggers". In fact, my firefox spell checker just told me "rejiggers" isn't even a recognized word. Why the heck they didn't just use "rearranges" if they going for alliteration is beyond me. It almost sounds as if Time/CNN went out of its way to be offensive.

I'm not even an Obama supporter, and I'm shaking my head and going :wtf:

[onenote]

33. no its not

show me some evidence that its a very old racist term.
Its a sailing term. And it is a "recognized" word. Check your dictionary

Get your facts straight.

[FloridaJudy]

39. I can't offer proof

But I remember black people being referred to as "j**s" when I was a child, by people whose views on the subject my family didn't share (I think it was short-hand for "j**aboo"). It may very well be a sailing term, but its use was nevertheless unfortunate.

[onenote]

46. does the term jigsaw puzzle bother you too?

Geez. It sounds like an offensive term. Well so do a lot of things.

[lastliberalintexas]

44. The image it creates in the reader is what is wrong

Although it is a real word, it sounds very bad in the context used, especially for those who have heard that slur to which you refer. That may or may not have been used only in the South, but I have also heard the similar word used in the way you describe. This headline is kind of like the white man who used the word niggardly when speaking with 2 black women. Whether it's an approrpriate use of the word or not, it's an extremely stupid time to use it.


And this comes from someone who does NOT in any way support Obama.

[Lucinda]

17. to alter or rearrange (sailing reference is common usage)

jig, jigger are sailing reference (sails)

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/rejigger

[caligirl]

25. perhaps an unfortuante twist, they should avoid even the possiblity that this

could be misinterpreted and change it. Poor form to leave people guessing after the past week of divisive politics. Unfortunately I already sent the editor a note before you posted this usage for the word in question.

[alittlelark]

10. Sounds like a someone really screwed up...

at least I HOPE that's what happened.

[Tatiana]

12. There's that infamous "code" again. ***Sigh*** n/t

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[alittlelark]

14. It seems as though we are supposed to equate another word w/ that....

.... hmmmm WHAT could it be?

[janetblond]

36. Obviously!

not slick at all ... just obvious.

[tblue37]

15. I hate to put this word in print, but for those who do not know it,

the word "jigaboo" is as offensive as the "n" word. The shortened form "jig" is also often used. Then, of course, there is the fact that "rejiggers" rhymes with the "n" word.

I actually doubt it was intentional. My guess is that it was a manifestation of a subtle racism in the writer who didn't even realize that his subconscious was making such connections.

Someone is going to be in very big trouble.

Again, though, I am sorry to have put the word out there. But many posts suggest that a lot of people don't have a clue about it.

[McCamy Taylor]

19. Nothing subtle about it. I'm an English major, had to look the word up. Someone

must have a list of "no no" words that they are not supposed to use and they used it deliberately. I did not even know this freaking word existed. It isn't like some copy guy is just gonna slap it on the internet in stead of "rearrange" for grins.

[caligirl]

16. by clicking on the authors name another window pops out and you can send a letter or comment

to the editor. I did. Easy.

The title of this article is offensive. The word 'rejiggers' is not a word. But it also too closely sounds like a racial slur, the 'n' word. The word 'jig'is a shortened form of 'jigaboo' and is also used as a racial slur. And just so you know others find it offensive, if not just stupid,I will give you a link to where others are saying this as well.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4223900#4224025

Please correct your title as the writers racial bias seems to be showing. Some of us want to move beyond race baiting politics. Why don't you help?

[McCamy Taylor]

18. I saw that one. Someone is gonna get fired.

[Wednesdays]

31. From the M$M?

Oh well, we can dream.

[onenote]

34. for using a word that doesn't have a racial connotation?

That's absurd. Sorry if you're hearing something that's not being said. but do a google search and you'll see that its not an uncommonly used word and its not used as a racial term.

The word police. Just what we need.

[lastliberalintexas]

45. It was bad form, though

There were plenty of other words which could have been used, given the similarity of "rejiggers" to a term that has been used to denigrate black people. Maybe you're just lucky and have never heard the racially charged term to which I and others on this thread have referred.

If that makes me a member of the word police, then so be it.

[onenote]

47. show me a single example of "rejiggers" being used in a racial context

That claim is no more valid than claiming the word "jigsaw puzzle" is racially offensive.

[lastliberalintexas]

49. I didn't say it had been

But then neither had niggardly been used in a racially tinged way either. It is the subcontext it creates in the readers/listerners' minds, though. If you don't think that should be avoided, fine, I can understand. My personal opinion is just that there are plenty of other descriptors which could have been used which have absolutely no similarity to a racially charged term. It makes me think that such a connotation was desired- but then, I also expect as much from most of the US media.

And again, I am not an Obama supporter, so that isn't clouding my judgment. I am a Southerner, though, so that probably is.

[Ravy]

20. WTF are they thinking? nt

[BringBigDogBack]

21. wow.

a 'what were they thinking?' moment

[thoughtcrime1984]

23. Do they dance like a brutha?

Nobody will let us enjoy one little moment, will they?

[caligirl]

26. see post 17, a sailing term in common use. Poor timing though.

[Raine]

24. What an idiotic word

to use! x(

[caligirl]

27. see post 17, a sailing term it seems.

[troubleinwinter]

29. See post 28, a term suggesting "unethical", it seems.

[troubleinwinter]

28. Aside from the obvious problem with the word,

Almost NONE of us were familiar with it. So it's again a strange word to use.

Note this definition:

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) -

re·jig·ger

–verb (used with object) Informal. to change or rearrange in a new or different way, esp. by the use of techniques not always considered ethical.

Nothing in the article suggests anything unethical, so WHY USE A WORD THAT SUGGESTS IT?

[MonkeyFunk]

30. I think some people here

go out of their way to find offense. It's a word, and it doesn't mean jigaboo or n*****.


This is like the guy who got fired for using the word "niggardly". It's stupid.

[onenote]

35. yep.

Heaven help us if someone had made a reference to a jigsaw puzzle...

[Seen the light]

38. I agree n/t

[calico1]

32. It isn't a "bad" word, but it sounds

bad. The author should have not gotten so creative and just used "rearranged" or "re-energized" or something like that.

[HughMoran]

40. Been changed to "Obama's Win Reshapes the Race"

that was insane!

[DrFunkenstein]

41. From The People That Darkened OJ's Skin

Oy vey.

[sniffa]

43. Wow.

I won't quote Jay-Z anymore. :crazy:

[MethuenProgressive]

48. If Obama wins the Presidency, will he outlaw words that "sound bad" to the...

..undereducated?
Like "youth" and "fairy tale"?
:eyes:

[stillcool]

50. do you ever get tired of it?

or is it part of who you are?