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Language "outrage" in the US

Started by Shit Good Nose, September 12, 2020, 12:04:20 AM

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touchingcloth


AllisonSays

I taught a course a couple of years ago to a group of American university students on a semester abroad. It was a history course, about 20th century migration to Britain and national identity - broadly from Windrush through to protests in the '60s and '70s, multiculturalism and then the hostile environment policies of Blair, Cameron and May, finishing on Brexit. This was a slightly weird place where I was working, I won't say what it was called, but it's not a university exactly - it takes students from American universities to Europe and teaches them courses that have credits at their home institutions. This meant there was no infrastructure or oversight of what I was teaching, and also that I was a contractor rather than an employee.

When I started this job they told me never to say anything controversial or political to the Americans because of their (I paraphrase) tiny, soft baby-brains, which would collapse like soft-boiled eggs if required to do anything other than funny quizzes.

In the event, I was able to teach them some controversial or difficult material - they read Enoch Powell's River's of Blood speech, they watched the brilliant Handsworth Songs by the Black Audio Film Collective, which has documentary footage of some fairly stark racist language - and they seemed to get something out of it. They certainly didn't try to get me sacked which they could have done very easily given the precarity of my contractual position - we were subjected to a pretty constant regime of student feedback.

I was bricking it when I showed them Handsworth Songs tbh and I did give them a 'trigger warning' - there were black students in the class and hearing the kind of language used in the film is obviously weighted with a different kind of meaning for them. I'm glad I did it, it's a brilliant document, but I was bricking it. I think the fella here should have proffered a disclaimer before using this example, but I don't think he should be sacked.

Also, I've just remembered, the main thing most of them got out of the class was 'I don't believe you're also racist here, we thought Britain was a bastion of liberal anti-racism', which I thought was pretty funny.

BeardFaceMan

Does all this remind anyone else of that A Bit Of Fry & Laurie sketch where Fry is playing a translator and keeps hitting Hugh for saying English words that sound rude in his language?

Cloud

Quote from: Buelligan on September 14, 2020, 10:05:10 AM
As long as you're not implying the Welsh are cunts, boy bach.  Say what you like about the cunting Americans.

They seem alright.  I had a close mate who was Welsh.

Just don't ask them to count to 100
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLhJNOhHUH4

thenoise

I heard Americans say snicker instead of snigger because they are so frightened of the scary word.

bgmnts

Words that need banning because it has slurs in it or sound like bad words: despicable, heebie jeebies, niggardly, snigger, the spanish word for black, constable, country, continuous, contaminate, cockerel, the welsh word for hallway, the welsh word for first, bitch (a female dog), prickly, fags (cigarettes), faggots (crap meatballs), shiitake mushrooms.

I've missed a lot i'm sure but there's a foundation there, I don't think I need to use many of those words really.

thenoise

Sounds a bit like a naughty word sounds like a silly reason to ban words though. Especially when there are words that have genuinely problematic origins.

JaDanketies

Quote from: bgmnts on September 15, 2020, 01:17:34 PM
Words that need banning because it has slurs in it or sound like bad words: despicable, heebie jeebies, niggardly, snigger, the spanish word for black, constable, country, continuous, contaminate, cockerel, the welsh word for hallway, the welsh word for first, bitch (a female dog), prickly, fags (cigarettes), faggots (crap meatballs), shiitake mushrooms.

maybe we can totally ban Scunthorpe for good. I mean, who even goes there?

Ray Travez

Quote from: JesusAndYourBush on September 14, 2020, 01:47:02 PM
Slut is end in Danish too (I just checked).  That explains why a Danish game I had on the Amiga called "Oswald" said "Slut" where you'd expect it to say "Game Over".

I'm idiotically amused by the idea of a game calling you a slut when you lose all your lives.

dissolute ocelot

Quote from: bgmnts on September 15, 2020, 01:17:34 PM
shiitake mushrooms.
Pronouncing "shiitake" with a Japanese accent (with a looooong /i/ sound in there) is much worse than calling them "shit take" like the opposite of "good take".