A Vocabulary Lesson

[gabbycat]

Auntie is incensed my children. What are they teaching in schools these days, besides rabid nationalism. Auntie has a little word association game planned for you all. What do the following words all have in common: nigger, spic, wop, mick, jap, slant eye, wet back, kraut, kike, dike, fag, frog,camel jockey? That's right children! They make the

Comments

[poopy_macpoop]

Words mean what people want them to mean?

You've paraphrased me to make a funny joke. But you've lost my intent. I said, words mean what people believe them to mean. The listeners, not just the speaker. You could say "clouds" for red, white, and cats, but you'd have to convince me of what you meant for it to mean anything.

So when I say "frog" without any malice, and the people who hear me say it know I'm saying it without any malice, who gets hurt?

That said, I am at least putting a moratorium on using it, while I do a little research. Up until yesterday I was absolutely sure it was in the Canuck/Limey ballpark, not a legitimate racial slur, which, by the way, make me cringe to hear them.

Anyhoo, this is a pretty heated argument about linguistics, which is interesting. I'm going to quit now, though, because, in the main, I agree with you completely. People shouldn't use words to hurt other people, especially arbitrarily. People shouldn't hate their fellow people without, at the very least, a lot of careful consideration. That's the point, right? And it's a point I think we can both agree on.