Ya know, you might want to read that headline slowly.
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| dinotrac Apr 02, 2012 10:44 AM EDT |
As an old southern boy, I'm just sayin'. |
| Fettoosh Apr 02, 2012 10:48 AM EDT |
I think changing it to = "Colorful Man Pages & How it Works" would sound much better. |
| dinotrac Apr 02, 2012 10:56 AM EDT |
@fettoosh - Yuppers. |
| ComputerBob Apr 02, 2012 11:46 AM EDT |
Quoting:As an old southern boy, I'm just sayin'.+1 As an old northern boy. |
| Scott_Ruecker Apr 02, 2012 12:02 PM EDT |
Careful...be very careful.. |
| jdixon Apr 02, 2012 12:23 PM EDT |
> Careful...be very careful.. Here I was all set to comment and Scott has to go ruin the fun. :) |
| lcafiero Apr 02, 2012 1:31 PM EDT |
Oh, no -- he didn't write that. But I guess he did. I commented on his blog item pointing out this, um, gaffe, but he seems not to see it as such. It's just another one to add to my collection of bad headlines, like "Police help dog bite victim" or "Headless body found in topless bar." /shrug |
| jdixon Apr 02, 2012 2:25 PM EDT |
> I commented on his blog item pointing out this, um, gaffe, but he seems not to see it as such. Is he American? If not then that's not surprising. |
| lcafiero Apr 02, 2012 2:50 PM EDT |
jdixon -- I don't know. I'm venturing a guess that he's not |
| tracyanne Apr 02, 2012 5:42 PM EDT |
I guess you have to be a yank. |
| caitlyn Apr 02, 2012 6:07 PM EDT |
TA: It's an outdated term for African-American or black. It predates the civil rights movement and while it's not an epithet like the n-word it still can be seen as offensive or racist. Interestingly enough "people of color", when used to refer to any and all non-Caucasian people (and even dark skinned Caucasian people) is politically correct. |
| dinotrac Apr 02, 2012 6:24 PM EDT |
@caitlyn - Yup. |
| JaseP Apr 02, 2012 7:07 PM EDT |
Colorful would have been a better word... |
| BernardSwiss Apr 02, 2012 8:30 PM EDT |
Every "objectionable" term of the kind originated as a politically correct alternative to some previous "prejudicial" term for the same. (I understand that sometimes such terms have even cycled between respectable and not). Anybody remember the fuss a few years ago in California, about the terms "master" and "slave" being used to describe control circuitry, hard-drives, etc? Or the fuss about the political aid in Washington who described a budget as "niggardly"? -- and I had to turn off "safe search" to check which state it happened in. Additionally, in the end, I can't help feeling somewhat suspicious of any term being considered "bad" or "pejorative", or not, depending chiefly on who is using it. Sometimes the offended cries say much more about the offended against, than the offender. Sometimes the effort to avoid "giving offence" is itself offensive, and some people are determined to take offence, regardless of intent. You can't win. You might as well dispute "missing links" with a Creationist. Anyone who takes offence at this particular title, is probably looking for a fight. |
| dinotrac Apr 02, 2012 8:32 PM EDT |
Quoting:Anyone who takes offence at this particular title, is probably looking for a fight. And, of course, that never happens! |
| tracyanne Apr 02, 2012 9:48 PM EDT |
@ caitlyn, yes I am aware that coloured is or was used to describe a yank of African heritage. However it simply did not occur to me that the word had connotations when used in the context. But, on rereading it I can see the humour of the juxtaposition of the words used. |
| Khamul Apr 02, 2012 11:20 PM EDT |
I do remember the master/slave row. It was really stupid: the state government basically wanted hard drive manufacturers to stop using the terms, even though they were part of the IDE standard. What's bad is that there's nothing racist about the terms, or about slavery itself. Slavery has existed for thousands of years; the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and many other ancient civilizations had slaves, and they were usually people of the same or similar ethnicity (the Romans didn't have ships at the time capable of sailing down to central or south Africa, after all. The Greeks had a hard enough time just sailing across the Aegean Sea). I think people could become slaves by becoming too indebted even, though it was usually their immediate neighbors they had conquered in battle. As for offense, anything you do is going to offend someone. For instance, I'm highly offended every time this site posts an article about Gnome3 or Unity that paints either one in a positive light. What is this site going to do about this? I'm offended!!! I'm also highly offended by Ken Hess articles! |
| lcafiero Apr 02, 2012 11:22 PM EDT |
Uh, yeah, Khamul. |
| lcafiero Apr 03, 2012 3:15 PM EDT |
Incidentally, the blogger (not a native English speaker, as it turns out) changed the title. |
| dinotrac Apr 03, 2012 4:08 PM EDT |
@lcafiero - Nice to see a little sensitivity now and then when the problem can be easily rectified with no loss in meaning. |
| lcafiero Apr 03, 2012 4:10 PM EDT |
Indeed, dinotrac, indeed. |
| skelband Apr 03, 2012 4:34 PM EDT |
Hah, I saw this comment and clicked on it thinking dinotrac was criticising the appalling grammar :D |
| caitlyn Apr 03, 2012 4:54 PM EDT |
Here is earth shattering news: I agree with dino :) Yes, sensitivity is a good thing. |
| dinotrac Apr 03, 2012 5:50 PM EDT |
@caitlyn -- Ah ha! So YOU'RE the one to blame! I just got off the phone with my mother who lives a bit north of Dallas, TX -- where 3 tornadoes have just made a little mosey on by. |
| caitlyn Apr 03, 2012 5:56 PM EDT |
LOL. Hope your mother and everyone else is OK. |
| dinotrac Apr 03, 2012 11:11 PM EDT |
@caitlyn -- Yeah, thanks. She's fine. The worst stuff managed to miss her. Not so sure about my mother-in-law's house, though. She, fortunately, is visiting my sister-in-law's family in Florida, but her house was pretty close to one of the tornados' path. Still -- much better to be worrying about some bricks and furniture than a person. |
| ComputerBob Apr 05, 2012 4:54 PM EDT |
Does anyone remember what the letters in the NAACP's name stand for? |
| Fettoosh Apr 05, 2012 5:05 PM EDT |
Quoting:Does anyone remember what the letters in the NAACP's name stand for? Good point, I guess with all the commotion going on lately we are becoming over sensitive or paranoid. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People http://www.naacp.org/ Still, colorful would have been a better choice. |
| dinotrac Apr 06, 2012 10:16 PM EDT |
Umm, The NAACP was founded in 1909, a time when "colored" was one heckuva lot nicer than many of the alternatives. |
| caitlyn Apr 06, 2012 11:52 PM EDT |
What Dino said... |
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