Quote:
During a later course I mentioned that the main ethnic slur I'd encountered in my tender youth was Oakie. The temperature in the room dropped 20 degrees Fahrenheit. My friend's mother stopped talking. Full stop. Later, he told me that he was amazed that his mom hadn't bitch-slapped me and walked me out to my car. I was shocked. I felt that a white lady who dropped the n-word with abandon wouldn't blink at a little grapes of wrath opprobrium.


So was she taking umbrage at the "O word" or did she simply resent the implied criticism of her own language?