Looking For Things To Offend Us

People do indeed get far too offended far too easily. I'd be concerned that something was wrong if overnight all the people I knew gave up on being offensive towards me!

I didn't even know that 'slope' was a supposedly racist term until all of the nonsense kicked up over a TV series that partially exists to toe the line. I also know that people part of a 'minority' (and it bugs me to call it that in many cases) are often the ones most offensive about the 'minority'! Nothing like a bit of self deprecating humour!
 
Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me ... as my mam used to say.
 
We've all see the sign, at some point.
"If you would like to speak to someone in your own language" etc.
These became very popular, late 80's early 90's I think it was?

Many years ago, an old boss of mine, (lets call him Fred) went to Bedford town hall,
on business. The chap is slightly hard of hearing, which may not of helped matters,
and for those of you that don't know, Bedford like Luton has a massive "ethnic" population.

The guy behind reception, was indeed of Asian origin, and English certainly wasn't his first or chosen language.
"Fred" was having immense difficulty understanding what he was saying.
(in fact this was "working both ways" )

Bedford being one of the fore runners, as I understand it,
had indeed and very thoughtfully place one of these signs on the reception desk.

When "Fred" asked to speak to someone in his own language,
a Managerial type appeared.

"Fred" was then asked to leave and come back when he decided to be civil,
and none racial to the staff.

This is the point that American phrase "Go figure" comes into its own.
 
danny_bhoy said:
How about this. Would society as a whole crumble into anarchy and chaos if, wait for it, everyone was just allowed to say what they liked.

Nobody will die, get injured or even graze their knee because of being called a name.

Of course, discriminatory action completely different. But my original point was people being offended by words.

Maybe I'm just being overly simplistic and not seeing the bigger picture, if there is one. On the other hand I might be spot on. Who knows.
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I am always slightly torn, in that if people can't express their opinion, then it is hard to argue against that opinion if it is wrong. That said some people with very strong views will lot listen to reason of course....

When races etc are labelled in certain ways, these things do stick in people minds are sections of society can be labelled for example as lazy, incompetent etc making it harder for them to get jobs, in other cases such as homophobia it does make it very dangerous for people so words can have these effects. Then you have the psychological affects etc.

Back to your original point - re the article I'm not familiar with the term, or anyone that is so was not offended. If something is accidentally used that is offensive, you should apologise for it - that's just basic manners but no need for anything else. If you've intentionally used it knowing it then it's a different issue. People seem to have different attitudes to racism - racism against certain races is bad, against others not quite as bad, and others we know it's not right, but it's not that politically incorrect so who cares.

Personally I'd much rather live somewhere where people stand up for other people and occasionally get it wrong, than a society where people just let things go. People can get carried away, and there is too much weight on some areas, but nothing's perfect.

viv1969 said:
Please tell me that "Cheese eating surrender monkeys" is still ok when referring to the French :)
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I'm fine with the cheese part - who doesn't like french cheese? I find the latter part pretty offensive but plenty of people think it's perfectly acceptable. If British soldiers were referred to in such a way or WW vets the forum would go into meltdown but there you go.
 
Offence is not given, it is taken. You can choose to take offense at something in the same way you can choose not to.

It's very liberating when you have decided not to be offended by things. I don't think I've ever found anything grossly offensive.
 
Blackadder would be totally illegal.
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Many, or so it seems years ago, we were banned from acknowledging biology, and told not to call WPC's, WPC's. So we called them Bob (You have to be a Blackadder fan!). As an unwanted side issue, WPC's were paid slighly more than us males, they got a Stocking allowance, which they lost, so anti sexism cost them money.
Oddly, on demos, certain officers, with lumpy jumpers had an asterix against their names, they were "Officers authorised to search females"
 
viv1969 said:
Please tell me that "Cheese eating surrender monkeys" is still ok when referring to the French :)
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No, I don't think chimanzees, Babboons or bonobo know the meaning of the word surrender, I imagine they would be offended by being tainted with a French tag.

Sincerely

Sheepshagger
 
RichardtheSane said:
Offence is not given, it is taken. You can choose to take offense at something in the same way you can choose not to.

It's very liberating when you have decided not to be offended by things. I don't think I've ever found anything grossly offensive.
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Some people choose to be deliberately offensive though, so not necessarily true.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Some people choose to be deliberately offensive though, so not necessarily true.
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They may chose to be offensive, but you don't have to be offended. It's your choice.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Some people choose to be deliberately offensive though, so not necessarily true.
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You say that, but you can still choose not to take offence. Having had good amount of deliberately offensive stuff directed at me I still don't take any offence. I see no point in making someone else's views or opinions my problem when they only reason they are expressing them is to cause offense.
 
I'm surprised to find that someone doesn't or didn't know that 'slope' is a derogatory term, at least anyone who's ever seen a Vietnam war film and quite certainly Jeremy Clarkson knew it when he used it. There is only one way to use it, to refer to a member of an asian race in a derogatory way. It's typical of JCs apparent attitude to the people of the countries Top Gear sends him to, the sniggering schoolboy humour that is his stock goes down well with his target audience. It's been said that the guy in the bridge didn't hear and so couldn't have been offended but he didn't have to hear for the remark to 'be offensive'.
It's a matter of common decency, give other people the same respect you would like/expect to receive yourself.
 
Steep said:
I'm surprised to find that someone doesn't or didn't know that 'slope' is a derogatory term, at least anyone who's ever seen a Vietnam war film and quite certainly Jeremy Clarkson knew it when he used it. There is only one way to use it, to refer to a member of an asian race in a derogatory way. It's typical of JCs apparent attitude to the people of the countries Top Gear sends him to, the sniggering schoolboy humour that is his stock goes down well with his target audience. It's been said that the guy in the bridge didn't hear and so couldn't have been offended but he didn't have to hear for the remark to 'be offensive'.
It's a matter of common decency, give other people the same respect you would like/expect to receive yourself.
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So you too are offended on behalf of a person completely unrelated to yourself :rolleyes:
 
welshwizard645 said:
No, I don't think chimanzees, Babboons or bonobo know the meaning of the word surrender, I imagine they would be offended by being tainted with a French tag.

Sincerely

Sheepshagger
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If it helps, I studied the ethology of Baboons at University.

They certainly do know about surrender and submission but we never thought to test them on cheese eating! :facepalm:
 
Steep said:
I'm surprised to find that someone doesn't or didn't know that 'slope' is a derogatory term,
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I can honestly say, hand on heart (if I had one that is :D)
I didn't know that slope was a derogatory term.
And some of the others used in this thread also went right over my head.
 
Yves Geza said:
If it helps, I studied the ethology of Baboons at University.

They certainly do know about surrender and submission but we never thought to test them on cheese eating! :facepalm:
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I used to breed Marmosets years ago, they liked cheese,
and were also very partial to a live Locust or two :thumbs:
 
Yves Geza said:
If it helps, I studied the ethology of Baboons at University.

They certainly do know about surrender and submission but we never thought to test them on cheese eating! :facepalm:
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Can't you just feel a massive government grant coming on??? :lol:
 
Cobra said:
I can honestly say, hand on heart (if I had one that is :D)
I didn't know that slope was a derogatory term.
And some of the others used in this thread also went right over my head.
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I'd never heard of it either before it was brought to my attention in the media
 
Cobra said:
I used to breed Marmosets years ago, they liked cheese,
and were also very partial to a live Locust or two (y)
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Had to read that twice!
 
viv1969 said:
So you too are offended on behalf of a person completely unrelated to yourself :rolleyes:
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Clarkson offends me in general but since I find him offensive I didn't watch the program.
In answer to your question generally I think it's perfectly acceptable to be offended on someone elses behalf, I think that the guy on the bridge would have taken offence if he'd known what JC thought of him and his race.
 
Steep said:
Clarkson offends me in general but since I find him offensive I didn't watch the program.
In answer to your question generally I think it's perfectly acceptable to be offended on someone elses behalf, I think that the guy on the bridge would have taken offence if he'd known what JC thought of him and his race.[/quote]


I'd dearly love to know where you purchased your psychic abilities :LOL:
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MWHCVT said:
I'd never heard of it either before it was brought to my attention in the media
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Exactly my point a few posts back
So now, there are several more of us that know the term is derogatory,
and how many times has someone, (Anyone) actually said the word slope in this thread
Which is supposed to be an anti thread, to using the word ?
Is that one of them thar oxymoron thingies.

(Can I still use the word oxymoron? and indeed is anyone actually called Oxy, and are, they like, Gordon, actually a moron?)

footnote: I'm sorry if that Gordon reference has given anyone an ear worm :D
 
viv1969 said:
I'd dearly love to know where you purchased your psychic abilities
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POAH said:
and what did clarkson think of him? I certainly don't know and I didn't know what a slope was. there would be none of this nonsense if the joke had used a Scotsman or a yank etc
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It's no different to calling a Jew a 'kyke' or a black person a 'Nigger', just because the person in question can't hear you say it doesn't make it acceptable.

Clarkson knew what the word was and what it meant and he made a choice to use it.
 
Steep said:
It's no different to calling a Jew a 'kyke' or a black person a 'Nigger', just because the person in question can't hear you say it doesn't make it acceptable.

Clarkson knew what the word was and what it meant and he made a choice to use it.
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According to the report that I read, it was in the script that was written by his production team, so maybe he wasn't aware. I certainly wasn't aware that it was an offensive term.
 
Steep said:
Clarkson offends me in general but since I find him offensive I didn't watch the program.
In answer to your question generally I think it's perfectly acceptable to be offended on someone elses behalf, I think that the guy on the bridge would have taken offence if he'd known what JC thought of him and his race.
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This is precisely what I'm talking about. I feel like I'm watching Points Of View.

If you start being offended on someone else's behalf where does that special brand of madness end?!?

I was playing football the other night and my team mate took a knee from their centre half square to the nuts - I didn't roll around on the ground on his behalf and gesture to the referee to show a yellow.
 
Steep said:
It's no different to calling a Jew a 'kyke' or a black person a 'Nigger', just because the person in question can't hear you say it doesn't make it acceptable.

Clarkson knew what the word was and what it meant and he made a choice to use it.
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But it's just words. That's my point. The guy was no worse off after he said the word than he was before. It's just words. Even if he had heard it, would it have done him any lasting damage??

Once more for luck: it's just words.
 
RichardtheSane said:
You say that, but you can still choose not to take offence. Having had good amount of deliberately offensive stuff directed at me I still don't take any offence. I see no point in making someone else's views or opinions my problem when they only reason they are expressing them is to cause offense.
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So if someone was extremely offensive to a member of your family, you'd be happy to ignore it, and expect them not to be offended?
I'd say you're a rare breed :)
 
danny_bhoy said:
This is precisely what I'm talking about. I feel like I'm watching Points Of View.

If you start being offended on someone else's behalf where does that special brand of madness end?!?

I was playing football the other night and my team mate took a knee from their centre half square to the nuts - I didn't roll around on the ground on his behalf and gesture to the referee to show a yellow.
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It's part of caring for the society that you live in and it's part of the thing that stops the bad guys winning. You've probably heard the saying "All it takes for evil to win is for good men to do nothing" well this is how it starts. A racial slur here, an insult there contributing to a general running down of a racial type, when it becomes acceptable the good guys have lost.

We have UK politicians saying people who have to use foodbanks are all work shy scroungers, they may not have heard it but why should I not still be offended on their behalf?
 
danny_bhoy said:
But it's just words. That's my point. The guy was no worse off after he said the word than he was before. It's just words. Even if he had heard it, would it have done him any lasting damage??

Once more for luck: it's just words.
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No it's not just words, it's the attitude behind the words, the thing that makes JC think it's ok to say the words. It's the attitude that does the damage, the words are just a manifestation of the attitude.
 
At what point did being offended by racial slurs become 'being offended on someone else's behalf'?

Or is it something concocted by people who are obsessed over 'PC'?

Bendy bananas are also legal.
 
Cobra said:
We've all see the sign, at some point.
"If you would like to speak to someone in your own language" etc.
These became very popular, late 80's early 90's I think it was?

Many years ago, an old boss of mine, (lets call him Fred) went to Bedford town hall,
on business. The chap is slightly hard of hearing, which may not of helped matters,
and for those of you that don't know, Bedford like Luton has a massive "ethnic" population.

The guy behind reception, was indeed of Asian origin, and English certainly wasn't his first or chosen language.
"Fred" was having immense difficulty understanding what he was saying.
(in fact this was "working both ways" )

Bedford being one of the fore runners, as I understand it,
had indeed and very thoughtfully place one of these signs on the reception desk.

When "Fred" asked to speak to someone in his own language,
a Managerial type appeared.

"Fred" was then asked to leave and come back when he decided to be civil,
and none racial to the staff.

This is the point that American phrase "Go figure" comes into its own.
Click to expand...

In a similar vein this may have come to the attention of those over the border: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-20860465

It's common practice round here to state totals in English rather than Welsh, even if you've been talking in Welsh otherwise.
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
In a similar vein this may have come to the attention of those over the border: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-20860465

It's common practice round here to state totals in English rather than Welsh, even if you've been talking in Welsh otherwise.
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That's not really taking offence on someone else's behalf. That sounds more like going it with the intention of being offended.

However, I'm not sure the practice (even if it is commonplace) of serving a customer in Welsh then, asking for the money in English makes much sense either.
 
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Steep said:
It's no different to calling a Jew a 'kyke' or a black person a 'Nigger', just because the person in question can't hear you say it doesn't make it acceptable.

Clarkson knew what the word was and what it meant and he made a choice to use it.
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but it's not, he didn't just say look at that nigger he used a play on words. also these words are only offensive when the person involved finds them offensive. if you call me a weggie or a jock I'm not going to be offended but they are still racial slurs. me and my Asian friend khuram will have to stop calling each other racist terms incase we offend someone not involved in the joke.

it's been said before it's offensive that this actually went this far with two complaints.
 
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