A Treatise On Calling People On Their Bullshit.

[LizKing531]

Pretty much every queer I know uses the word "fag", usually affectionately. "What are you up to, ya fag?" "I was hanging out with a bunch of fags last night..."

Another one is "gay". It CAN be used offensively, but so much depends on context. Something can be gay (pejorative, meaning it's dumb... a word which no longer means "silent", btw) or someone can be gay (non-judgmental, meaning homosexual) or, a person can be gay for someone/something, which has positive connotations. I am totally gay for cones.

If you can't interpret language using context, you are failing at using that language.

Context is key, but is there a rationale or methodology as to who makes the decision over insulting or not? Can white people use the word "nigga" for instance? What is this "can"?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Gogira- exactly. Like: dood thats retahhhhhhdid. Good thing. Dood. Thatsretahdid. Bad thing.

[Doktor Howl]

I do have a friend that uses the word gay in the sense of retahdid. I tried to reform that too but it didnt work. And you know what? Considering that he started up a "help my neighbor get a sex change" fund i doubt he is in anyway homophobic. So  have at it dude. At least hes not irish.

Or Welsh. 

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Im a wasp and i have been given blanket permission to use the word nigga (which i still hate and feel can never be reformed). Even goaded into it by black friends. Kinda like my old roommates girlfriend who is black and we try to get her to say cracker. She wont play ball though. If its understood to not be offensive then it wont be taken as such within the context that its acceptable.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Dok at least the welsh have something the irish dont- british citizenship.

[Doktor Howl]

Dok at least the welsh have something the irish dont- british citizenship.

So they can get pepper-sprayed to death by Chelsea police but the Irish can't?

HEAVENS!

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Yeah man. If anyone needs to get pepper sprayed its the goddamn irish.



Sigh. My countertroll is not working at all.

[Doktor Howl]

Yeah man. If anyone needs to get pepper sprayed its the goddamn irish.



Sigh. My countertroll is not working at all.

No, but I've been screen-shotting like a mad bastard.   

[Nephew Twiddleton]

going to have to relinquish my passport to the consulate i guess.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Pretty much every queer I know uses the word "fag", usually affectionately. "What are you up to, ya fag?" "I was hanging out with a bunch of fags last night..."

Another one is "gay". It CAN be used offensively, but so much depends on context. Something can be gay (pejorative, meaning it's dumb... a word which no longer means "silent", btw) or someone can be gay (non-judgmental, meaning homosexual) or, a person can be gay for someone/something, which has positive connotations. I am totally gay for cones.

If you can't interpret language using context, you are failing at using that language.

Context is key, but is there a rationale or methodology as to who makes the decision over insulting or not? Can white people use the word "nigga" for instance? What is this "can"?

Yes, white people can use "nigga" or "nigger" without it being offensive, in the right context. I know several white people who use it regularly as part of their greeting between friends, and is it non-offensive.

For that matter, I have a friend who regularly addresses her friends as "bitches and homosexuals", and it is non-offensive.

Context is important. If you want to play amateur anthropologist, that's a pretty crucial thing to be aware of.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Who decides whether it is offensive? The people speaking, combined with the people hearing.

[LizKing531]

Yes, white people can use "nigga" or "nigger" without it being offensive, in the right context. I know several white people who use it regularly as part of their greeting between friends, and is it non-offensive.

For that matter, I have a friend who regularly addresses her friends as "bitches and homosexuals", and it is non-offensive.

Context is important. If you want to play amateur anthropologist, that's a pretty crucial thing to be aware of.

Yeah - even with context taken into account amongst speaker and intended audience, variances in just location can make or break offensiveness as well. There's the whole aspect of intended vs. unintented audience - passers-by, etc.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

How am I trolling?

I bring up using the word "retarded". It wasn't directly addressed in the original post, but used later. As someone that is around the disabled community, I happen to know that "retarded" isn't cool - despite what you may think. It may be changing - language is constantly evolving.

In the spirit of the OP - I just wanted to start the conversation about it & was quickly told to fuck off.

So, to get back to it, It's not really up to me to police everyone else for this or that, but as we're talking about speaking up when you hear misogynist jokes or racial quips, I spoke up for something else.

That's SPECIAL.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Hey dok- king's an irish last name. Only the irish would be so fucking pretentious to give a royal title for a surname. Fucking irish. I bet this liz here is irish.

I didn't smell bog, but you could be right.

The other - much worse - possibility is that he's a Doors fan.

My money's on Doors fan.
One of those Doors fans who thinks everything Jim said when he was snot-slinging drunk is PROFOUND.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

The only context I feel even marginally okay dropping n-bombs in is "potato nigger." Or telling people that free speech includes the right to say "niggertits" even if it is terribly offensive.