"yachtsmen"

[jimi]

Re: \"yachtsmen\"

Listen ye sassenach mud plugger .. its not bluidy English ..its a bastard doggerel mixture of Saxon, Jute, Latin, greek, french,gaelic,norse that which we speak .. simple fact is that I find the most bigotted people the most semantically PC aware, the normal rest of us do'nt have the connotations in our brains that the misguided few have.

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[AndrewB]

Re: Next question.

A vertically challenged atonement for my factually unencumbered onomasticism, coming right your way Steve.

 

[milltech]

Re: \"yachtsmen\"

Well "old boy", English is exactly as you describe, that's what gives it the richness of expression it enjoys whatever accent it's spoken with. I don't think enjoyment of the language has anything to do with being PC, quite the contrary since being PC is mostly an excuse to further ruin it, "chairperson" etc.

Personally I am half Saxon and half Norman, but I'm not sure which half is which.


<hr width=100% size=1>John
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk</A>

 

[bedouin]

Re: Next question.

I didn't realise you suffered from "Learning Difficulties" - may I say that you hide it very well /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

I must admit to being too young to remember when "Nigger" was in common usage but I have to ask what is wrong with it as a word. I assume it derives from the latin for black, and so should be no more derogatory than the anglicised "Black". (Although I do realise that some people think that "Black" is not an acceptable term now).





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[steve_cronin]

Ha Ha

Cheers Andrew.

Good old British humour and irony won't be suppressed by PCism as long as red blooded Brits still breathe the free air!

Steve Cronin

<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[jhr]

Re: Next question.

It's all about usage, isn't it? If a word is only used in a derogatory context, then it becomes offensive in itself, whatever its etymology. There was an interesting article in the Grauniad (where else? /forums/images/icons/smile.gif) a couple of weeks ago, arguing that "the n-word" (as they put it) has become almost more offensive in its usage than the c-word, on the basis that it creates more complaints when broadcast. I don't think this is ludicrous, or political correctness, just a reflection of what is regarded as offensive.

I have to say that I would be mortified and ashamed of myself if I were to use the word "nigger" in any context. I'm not particularly PC, but I do think it's offensive and unacceptable and I also think that many people of my generation (born in the 50s and 60s) would agree.

All imho, and subject to donning my tin helmet.

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[Cornishman]

Re: Next question.

An interesting point of view. I guess I am probably one of the more senior members here in terms of age, but when I was a boy during and just after WW2 the colour "nigger brown" was common in clothing and shoes. I don't think it had any derogatory connections, but it has died along with the other use of the word. Just like the little feller that used to adorn Robertson's marmalade jars and a certain yacht called Robertson's Golly.

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[steve_cronin]

Re: Next question.

How many did you collect?

Steve Cronin



<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[jimi]

Re: Next question.

That reminds me we were going to call our boat JamJar .. cos it was full of Robertsons but unfortunately another boat had already nicked the name ;-(

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[Cornishman]

Re: Next question.

Hundreds! And never thought any derogatory thoughts about anyone!

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[cmolestrangler]

Oh, darling!

Whatever have you done!! Nothing, but nothing, comes with a more cast iron guarantee to get all these dear boys into the most fearful wax than the thing they call "PC". Anyone would think you had insulted their grandmothers, they do carry on so!

Never mind, though. They generally seem to get over it quite quickly and it is rather fun to watch, isn't it, darling?

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[Cornishman]

Re: "yachtsmen"

I know I am well known here for my support of the RYA, so why not take a leaf from their many training publications and begin your article with:
"throughout this book (article) the pronouns 'he', 'him' and 'his' have been used inclusively and are intended to apply to both men and women. It is important in sport as elsewhere that women and men should have equal status and equal opportunities." You might care to add "yachtsmen" to your list.
Don't forget that if you use the word Yachtmaster it has the copyright of the RYA. I don't think they have registered Yachtmistress yet!

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[Neraida]

Patronising? Moi??

NM

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[maxi]

Re: Capt_Marlinspike

You may be, others would not use that term under any circumstances, other than as derision.

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[milltech]

Re: Next question.

I agree, in the Dam Busters, Gibsons dog is called "Nigger", didn't think anything of it at the time, now I cringe at the TV. That wonderful book "Riddle of the Sands" has some very anti-semetic comments in the early pages where Carruthers is buying foul weather clothing in the East End. Changing times.



<hr width=100% size=1>John
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[Cornishman]

Re: \"yachtsmen\"

C'mon. What may have started as a laudable idea has been taken over by some very strange people with even stranger ways of using the Queen's English. It got so bad in Plymouth a couple of years ago that the City Council planned to drop the word MANager.
It was difficult enough when liferaft manufacturers replaced "4 man" as an indication of capacity with "4 persons"

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[Aja]

Re: \"yachtsmen\"

... not already snapped up by the Vietnamese??

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[jhr]

Re: Next question.

Interestingly (well, I think it's interesting, anyway /forums/images/icons/smile.gif) the demonisation of the word "nigger" seems to have stemmed from the US, where I think it always had different connotations from the UK, with undertones of slavery, subservience and inferiority. It may be that things will change and that it will be reclaimed by the black community in the same way that, after years of being regarded as offensive, the word "queer" is being brought back into usage by the gay community, almost as a symbol of defiance. Who knows? I agree, though, that 50 years ago it was a word in common usage in the UK, and without offensive overtones.

I must confess to having always been a bit mystified by the fuss over the Robertson's golly and at the time, I regarded the decision to get rid of it as playing right into the hands of the Da***y M**l and their ilk, giving them a perfect piece of OTT political correctness to lampoon. Similarly, I could never really get too worked up about the Black and White Minstrels, though I fervently believe that it was right of the BBC to dispense with their services, on grounds of their well-documented crimes against music.

Language is a living thing and its meanings and nuances are constantly shifting. 20 years ago, who would have said that "Twister owner" would be an offensive epithet? (sprints for cover)

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[Magic_Sailor]

Don\'t bother

dxflhk6y6t&**(ek

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[bedouin]

Re: Next question.

So what makes a word "offensive and unacceptable" - and who decides?

I agree that there are words that are inherently offensive (for example I would class "[ah em!]" as one) but there now seems to be a movement to pervert the language by arbitrarily labelling words as offensive.

We have this silly idea now that no one is "handicapped" or "disabled" but rather they are "motionally challenged". The logical conclusion of this is that in a few years the word "challenged" will itself be regarded as derogatory so we will have to find yet another term to describe the same situation.



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