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there are always words in one language that are offencive, and and in an other language, have similar (root) meanings --but a totally different meaning. (and nuance) and are not offensive.

In US, there is, what is called the N word--a word that has a long history of abuse, and it is offense to many.

In Ireland (and i suspect scotland and parts of UK) the same word is used to describe a warm, rich shade of brown (as in 'she bought herself a beautiful new coat of N word brown wool")

(in US i suspect we'd use dark chocolate brown (but chocolate has also been used to describe people, too!)

------------------
the words my parents thought offensive (bloody and bleeding come to mind) had no real significance in US.

other word, they "heard" as nice euphemisms. (so they didn't like us to use arse, but never made a peep at the word ass..)

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Transit to old Egypt now?

>Kung over for tea and cakes in the gazebo. This proto-Egyptian? :~)
Thanks for that link with the outrageous extensions of Hottentot
plus other wordy things I long forgot. Really terrible.

I guess Helen, we are just a bit less careful with political correctness and offensive use of words, because the eufemisms are
often just hypocritical. We call white white again and black, after a period of changing from one eufemism to the other. But you are right, of course sensiblities are different in different countries.

black, both parties. (the saying is: we like to call the child by its name)

Oh, this does not mean we use crude words all the time.

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I love coming to these boards and getting a chuckle! Just so you know, Bran and Troy, sensibilities are different in different rooms in my parts! Most of the time, "black" and "african american" are used interchangeably, and even in the same sentence. Yet I know some are offended by one or the other (though they may say nothing, or merely use their word of choice deliberately after you have used the other). Personally, I greatly dislike the term "Caucasian", as I am not from Russia, nor anywhere near it, nor do I have any ancestry from the area. I'd rather be called "white", although I am truly sort of pinky-beige, or something. But I find that when people are struggling to be PC, they are thinking less about what they really mean to say and how to convey their thoughts clearly and carefully, which is a shame. :0)

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 Originally Posted By: zmjezhd
Huttese... I was referring to the language that Jabba the Hutt spoke in reference to the quotation.

I wonder if that's what they speak in the Hutt River Principality?
There is actually a guy in Western Australia who seceded from the Commonwealth and declared his farming property a separate Province, back in the 1980s. Later he promoted himself to Prince and proclaimed it a Principality.

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 Quote:
But I find that when people are struggling to be PC, they are thinking less about what they really mean to say and how to convey their thoughts clearly and carefully, which is a shame. :0)

Agree.It makes things foggy. Caucasion has always puzzled me. I always hear it, mostly in crime series or for missing persons. The Kaukasus is a Rus. mountain range. Do they see that as the origin of white populations? (Yeh, I like the laugh and the chuckle, but I'm curious for all sorts of thoughts and stuff too.
 Quote:
ThePook: "There is actually a guy in Western Australia....

When the old fox is gone "His Royal Highness Crown Prince Ian" will be given a microcoronation?

Last edited by BranShea; 06/15/08 12:26 PM.
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Here's Wikipedia on the origin of the term Caucasian for the racial type. For those of y'all who don't accept Wikipedia as a good source, they do list several external references.

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 Originally Posted By: BranShea
Caucasian has always puzzled me. I always hear it, mostly in crime series or for missing persons. The Kaukasus is a Rus. mountain range. Do they see that as the origin of white populations?

Yes that is the origin of the terminology.

 Originally Posted By: Branshea
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ThePook: "There is actually a guy in Western Australia....

When the old fox is gone "His Royal Highness Crown Prince Ian" will be given a microcoronation?

I suppose he will! And then in his coronation parade he will give from his royal carriage a 'microwave' perhaps?

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\:D

And, well said:

 Quote:
Yes that is the origin of the terminology.

For that's all it is.

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Back to hottentot...
So in Dutch, it's known to mean stammer (and German hotteren-totteren = stutter according to askoxford), but it's not considered offensive.
Is it really possible to refer to group as "those people with a speech impediment" without thinking it might be just a tiny bit, oh, insensitive?
It seems to me that wishing on piebald horses would be a successful business there. (^_^)
(In case that doesn't "translate": If you make a wish on a piebald (spotted) horse without thinking about its tail, the wish will come true.)

Myridon #177546 06/18/08 04:38 PM
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"those people with a speech impediment"

The people, formerly called Hottentots, did not suffer from speech impediments, unless, of course, not being able to speak Afrikaans or English is taken to be a disorder. (Non-natives speakers as stutters and stammers is a trope in ancient times, e.g., the Greeks called all barbarians so because they stammered (or said bar bar bar).) Jokes and stories told by groups about their neighbors falls under the heading of blason populaire in folklore. (See link and link.)


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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