"Chink in the armor" and "nip in the air"......offensive?

[seriousstan]

[texasleo]

1. spic and span

[MrModerate]

2. Nah, too Boering n/t

[Mythsaje]

3. How 'bout "Vanilla," or "White Bread?"

Just asking...

[novalib]

4. I Have Reservations

about both of those terms.

[napi21]

9. OK, color me stupid. WHY would any of those terms be a problem?

nt

[BlooInBloo]

23. Just more white folks manufacturing outrage....

.... over the fact that "tarbaby" is a slur, they're trying to "get us back" via asinine examples that aren't actually similar, but appear to be so, if one is stupid enough.

You came in on the third act of a three act play, as it were.

:)

[MissB]

I have reservations about "Reservation".

Not fair to Native Americans.

[mwooldri]

31. Not fair to restaurants either - at least upscale ones.

As I say the best thing I do for dinner is reservations.

Mark.

[seriousstan]

18. Do you eat crackers when you ski down the slopes?

[Solo_in_MD]

5. I must resist the urge to participate in and obvious troll thread

but damn its hard not to

[BlooInBloo]

27. I couldn't help myself.... LOL - you're a better person than me...

[gratuitous]

6. Again . . .

If you're talking about a situation (an oversight in a defense or an argument or a cold day), it's okay.

If you're talking about a samurai warrior in chain mail or a Japanese gymnast, it's offensive, and the remedy is a kick in the nads.

{Readies nad-kicking foot} So which is it, stan?

[Beware the Beast Man]

7. umm....no.

[uppityperson]

8. I wear earrings and other jewelry

[texasleo]

10. why do they call it homework?

you're not working on your home.

*boo*

[porphyrian]

11. I would like to see more use of the word "honkey" myself.

That shit cracks me up every time.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

39. One of my favorite Doonesbury story arcs

The white child on forced busing to a predominantly black school, calling a black kid a honky, then saying, "no wait, let me check my notes."

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

12. not as bad as "one for the gipper."

[karlrschneider]

13. Do I need to dismantle my jig boring machine?

...

[Richard D]

14. Shouldn't be offensive.

They are not referring to Chinese nor Japanese anything at all. Just homonyms.

[MissB]

15. "homonyms"

Why do you hate gay people?

[texasleo]

16. no pun intended, I'm sure

[-..__...]

17. My pet Guinea pig is offended by your question.

[sharp_stick]

19. Why?

Is your Guinea pig Italian or something? ;-)

[endarkenment]

20. sort of a silly post, but...

one of my kids wrote a paper for school that used the phrase 'chink in the armour' and was reprimanded for using an ethnic slur. I seriously considered becoming a drug addict at that point. The phrase is as offensive as 'renege' or 'bush'. Here is a truly tough one: 'niggardly', which despite the fact that its derivation is separate from the offensive 'nigger', simply cannot be used anymore.

[annabanana]

21. unless you know everyone within earshot

is well read enough to know a synonym of stingy when the hear it.

[eppur_se_muova]

36. Very ignorant teacher, if s/he doesn't understand the meaning of this ex-

pression. "Chink" in this sense has been around as part of the English language for a very long time.

[gatorboy]

22. How about "Negro"?

The original usage for this word was simply "black". Anyone here brave enough to bring it back?

[crikkett]

24. not kosher anymore

[Richard D]

40. It's used in Mexico . . .

. . . both as the color black and to denote dark-skinned (though not necessarily African) people. It's not considered an insult and can even be used as a nick-name or a term of endearment.

[WinkyDink]

25. Mr. Colbert?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

26. Not in the context in which they're used. What's your point?

[patcox2]

28. Don't be so niggardly.

You should be more generous in considering which words are not-PC.

[MsAnthropy]

29. This is the funniest thread today

I thought I was in the Lounge!

:rofl: :woohoo: :applause:

[MsTryska]

30. what about the British use of fag? nt

nt

[MikeStl]

33. heh

Thats like when I visited London, was in a tube station and heard some guy behind me saying "... I can't stand these fags". Was starting to feel my temper flare until I turned around and saw he was holding up a pack of cigarettes talking to his friend. :)

[Richard D]

41. Partcluary bad . . .

. . . considering what "smoke" means in some parts of the world.

[AspenRose]

32. I'm sure this thread will go far in aiding the relationships and

understanding with people of color here on DU that actually DO find tar baby offensive, regardless of its origins.

Congratulations.

:sarcasm:

[Odin2005]

34. I find it funny when people think "niggardly" is a racist insult.

Not every word that starts with Nig- is dirived from n*gger. :eyes:

I remember a story about a university president who was forced to resign when he used the term in a speach. :crazy:

[Catherine Vincent]

35. So is "gyp"

[Lisa]

37. my (Japanese) family has a rather warped sense of humor ...

A couple of years ago, my parents flew cross-country for my graduation, and Dad couldn't resist exclaiming "there'll be a nip in the air" when calling me with their flight number. I think that being interned during WWII (plus having to be the grownup in his family after Grandpa was taken away) resulted in the suppression of his funny streak, which pops up in bizarre forms.

But he reserves that kind of thing for very good friends (and the less uptight family members ... I don't think he'd say that to my aunt, for example!).

[Taverner]

38. I dunno are you referring to an asian american hiding in your armor?

Or an asian american flying in the air?

[name not needed]

42. Why do I get the feeling you're white?

[seriousstan]

43. Because your overly sensitive?

[entanglement]

44. Shut up, cracker

:)

[pinto]

45. Locking.

Maybe another tack if you want a discussion on bigotry and the terminology surrounding it? This isn't working.