A term I have long had a problem with is “freedom-fighter”. This was invented by the drive-by’s sometime in the 80s usually linked to Central America. A crime-fighter fights crime and a prize-fighter fights for a prize. Which is it? Why not stick with patriot to describe someone fighting for freedom……

Actually what a “freedom-fighter” does depends on who you are… We on the right use the term to describe those who are fighting for freedom, while those on the left, like Moore and Sheehan, use that term to describe those fighting against freedom…

In regard to the comments about black/Negro/African-American: Many years ago, a friend of mine hated the phrase “African-American”. He’d respond, “I ain’t no damn African-American. The closest I’ve ever been to Africa is ‘Safari World’ in Secaucus, New Jersey. I’m black.” He was, too, as in Ace-of-Spades black. He and I would scandalise people by the way we talked to each other; neither of us had any use for “political correctness”. We had fun…

No point, I just wanted to tell that joke.

How would the coffee shop have handled a customer who asked for his coffee “like I like my women…hot, white, and strong”? I’ve had more than one guy tell me that.

windbag on December 18, 2006 at 9:54 AM

That reminds me of a similar joke I heard once.
‘I like my women the way I like my coffee, strong and bitter.’

Anyway, does anyone remember that lecture from Billy Madison about how ‘we are all stupider for having heard that’? That’s how I’m feeling right now. Shame on you, Allah!

I thought the ‘flip chart’ thing might not have been so stupid if they’d given an explanation as to why Filipinos might find it offensive.

I was also a little irritated (more than a little, actually) by the moral equivalence they were trying to draw between BS deniers and holocaust deniers by mentioning them together.

Can you imagine, after reading number six, Thomas Jefferson saying he takes his coffee like his women, hand-picked from a field……….oh I’m going to hell….

ritethinker on December 18, 2006 at 5:36 PM

In a hand basket! See ya there?

I don’t like to be kept guessing and I sure don’t like being called “racist” for using a term that the self-described community insisted be used, for a time.

This might come off sounding misleading (and ignorant) since often the communities involved may not have started out “self-described”, others might have “described” them first (sometimes viciously). But once that community has taken over the duty and the decision-making power over what they are to be called, they are now describing themselves and the rest of us are entitled to some measure of clarity over the issue.

Global Warming Denier – Since there are those who now believe that climate changed has moved from scientific theory to dogma; there are now proposal that ‘global warming deniers’ be treated the same as ‘holocaust deniers:’ professional ostracism, belittlement, ridicule and, even, jail.

I certainly haven’t heard any serious proposal to jail global warming deniers. And even though there are many important dissimilarities between Holocaust deniers and global warming deniers (I’m not even remotely suggesting a moral equivalence), there is one important similarity – take the path of histrionic aggrievement when the facts don’t work out in your favor.

Euphemisms have to be rotated because it doesn’t take long for the new word to mean what the old word meant, complete with negative connotations.

Amen Allahu Snackbar. An epiphany, that is … profound wisdom.

If they’re going to cycle through these things then why can’t they just come up with a schedule going out 30-40 years? “Okay, 1970 = Black / Oriental, 1990 = African-American / Asian, 2010 = ? / ?” What’s next??

I don’t like to be kept guessing and I sure don’t like being called “racist” for using a term that the self-described community insisted be used, for a time.

Likewise our burning through host[ess] steward[ess] flight attendant uniformed crewmember on-board airline employee over 50 years or so is telling. I think to this day that “flight attendant” is more degrading than steward[ess], which at least implies stewardship over something as opposed to mere attendance, but what do I know. The term probably works because the word “attendant” is so colorless, people don’t even give it a second thought. (Tony am I way off here?)

[Kim Hartveld]

I always thought “Asians” was codespeak for raging Paki muslims. The ones you see depicted on the right hand sidebar of this page.

It is in Britain, which is probably one reason why Orientals can’t be called “Asians” in Europe, even if they wanted to be. It’s only here in the U.S., where our first immigrant contact was with Chinese, Japanese and other oriental immigrants well before more recent contacts with Indian nationals (let alone raging Paki Muslims), that the term “Asian” was even available for repurposing to mean Oriental in particular.

Now, with Indian nationals streaming onto our shores, our only room to maneuver is to call one group “East Asian” and the other “South Asian”, as if that helps anyone feel better. So where do Indonesians fit into this dichotomy? (“I don’t know… what do they look like?” is the honest, and telling, answer. Hmmm…)

That’s the problem with trying to play this game. True liberals are more concerned with not offending people in person than they are in patronizing them by calling them different, more ‘sensitive’ names every 20 years.

I love me some chocolate milk!

Sometimes, the jokes just tell themselves.

4. Flip Chart. The term can be offensive to Filipinos, please use ‘writing block’.

This could also offend the coach of the Pistons.

2. Global Warming Denier – Since there are those who now believe that climate changed has moved from scientific theory to dogma; there are now proposal that ‘global warming deniers’ be treated the same as ‘holocaust deniers:’ professional ostracism, belittlement, ridicule and, even, jail.

I’ll try to remember global warming when I’m freezing my arse off in Green Bay on Thursday night watching my team try to generate 1 lousy offensive TD vs the Slackers, er I mean Packers.

All I want for Christmas is Brett Favre’s 2 front teeth.

Burn styrofoam this week for me!

Sarcasm, Just one more service I offer.

the world has lost its fracking mind!

Euphemisms have to be rotated because it doesn’t take long for the new word to mean what the old word meant, complete with negative connotations.

No matter whether you call people that can’t walk crippled, handicapped, disabled, or diffferently-abled, they can’t walk.

If you think that there’s something bad about being a Negro, Black, African-American, then changing what you call them doesn’t change what you think about them.

So if a person thinks there’s something wrong with calling unadulterated coffee ‘black’, it’s because deep down they think there’s something wrong with black people.

No Noising and Airline Pulp were my favorites.