(Untitled)

[misstia]

i did a bunch of 'ghetto scanner' from a june 1880 scribner's monthly i have...that would be taking photos as i don't want to bend the pages to scan....this is the biggest ad as it's full page....

Comments

[ticktockman]

The photo came out quite legible. I approve the method (not that you asked for my opinion.)

I'm not terribly comfortable with the word "ghetto" as used to mean makeshift. There are all sorts of unpleasant associations to that usage. There's an interesting discussion of the issue here: http://drtoddboyd.blogspot.com/2009/01/thats-ghetto.html .

*daha*

[misstia]

Wow! I have never ever heard or considered 'ghetto' possibly racist!! (I certainly would never use racist words!) I use ghetto a lot, like I ghetto rig this, ghetto fixed that, Eddie's son says things are ghetto-fabulous. And yeah, I live in a ghetto. We have blacks, nepalese, vietnamese, mexicans and yes whites. We all have called this area the ghetto and I don't think any of us---regardless of color or nationality---considered it potentially racial in context! That article was sort of interesting but I think they were being too defensive and perhaps should do some field studies? It might also be different in other parts of the country too, I do realize that! I do hope I did not offend you with my word usage.

I do think the pictures turned out decent!! I cropped a couple, but I was happy that they were legible---that's all I wanted!

[ticktockman]

It certainly isn't clear cut, and a lot can depend on context. If there's an added implication of illicit or malicious behavior, it can definitely be a problem.

A few years back, a fellow blogged about his experience going to a coffee shop in northern Virginia. He wanted an iced coffee, but they wouldn't sell him one because they'd had some customers buy iced coffee (inexpensive) and then add huge amounts of cream from the condiments bar to turn it into an iced latte, which normally sold for lots more. The shop owner was quoted saying that people were making "ghetto lattes". That usage holds a lot more insult than it does tribute to ingeniousness.

Most people won't say of a sharp bargainer that he "Jewed me down". A lot more people will say, after paying a lot of money for an item, that "I got gypped." But the Gypsies are just as much an (at times) oppressed minority as the Jews.

Anyway, you'll find lots of examples online arguing the use of "ghetto" both ways.

*daha*

[misstia]

never had iced coffee and have no idea what a latte is, but 'ghetto latte' i love that!!! that made me think of when eddie puts sweet & low in a glass of water with a lemon at a restaurant, i'm gonna call it 'ghetto lemonade', and i know he'll be amused and he's black....

but re: a coffee shop, i could see them trying to prevent people from making a cheaper drink, but they could have maybe found another way not to have people do that---i am clueless about coffee shops!!!

i have never heard 'jewed me down', ever!!!! i have heard of course 'got gyped' but i never associated it with gypsies!

well my usage of ghetto is never ill-intended as i live in one and oft refer to myself as a ghetto dweller.....

[franklanguage]

I speak with fondness of the days this neighborhood used to be a ghetto; it was bombed-out and burned-out and nobody wanted to live here. In fact, the Lower East Side (sometimes called "Loisaida" as a reflection of the "Spanglish" pronunciation) is probably one of the world's most famous ghettos ever.

My mother, of all people, used to say someone "jewed" her down, albeit jokingly. ("I was just kidding!" has always been her cover for saying really hurtful things.) I say this is ironic, because with our Polish/Eastern European ancestry, there's not much chance my family wasn't originally Jewish and forced to convert to Catholicism down the line. Actually, I was once told my father's mother, whose maiden name was Sedlak, was a Sephardic Jew-and she always refused to have anything to do with discussions about ancestry. "Leave me out of it!" she always said.

[pbrim]

I would be especially suspicious of the term "ghetto rig", as I suspect it is a descendant of a term I heard a lot when I was younger "n****r rig", not to mention that the term "ghetto" has been used as a synonym for "Black" since the 60's at least. Whatever the actual reality, most people who would use the older term believe that ghettos are inhabited solely by Black people.

[branwynn]

This thread has been interesting to read. I don't automatically think of black people, or any ethnic group for that matter, when I hear the term 'ghetto'. I think of areas. But then again I also remember my grandma talking about ghettos in Germany during WW2.