2/9: Terrible MSNBC gaffe

[Nic Name]

Sounds ignorant to me.

It is senseless to argue that slang doesn't have meanings generally understood in the vernacular.

slang Pronunciation Key (slng) n.

A kind of language occurring chiefly in casual and playful speech, made up typically of short-lived coinages and figures of speech that are deliberately used in place of standard terms for added raciness, humor, irreverence, or other effect.

[MaggieL]

Lots of gay, lesbian and other sexual minorities have embraced the term "queer" for their *own* use, partly to rob it of it's negative power. Sorry if you straight people don't like it.

*Who* is speaking is inevitably a vital part of the context in which speech is understood.Remeber the scene in "Rush Hour" where Jackie Chan greets the bartender with the same phrase he's just heard his black partner use: "Whassup, my nigger?". Membership in an oppressed minority profoundly shapes the context of discourse; having words insiders can use without giving offense that are off-limits to outsiders is a powerful way of expressing solidarity.

To whine about words being "hijacked" is just plain silly. Will you stand there like King Canute ordering back the sea proclaiming "Queer doesn't mean homosexual"? "Nice" didn't used to mean "pleasing", either. Words grow meanings like ships grow barnacles, and *all* the users of a language participate in the process that gives meaning to words.

Lately, queer folks have had a heavy influence on the words used to describe themselves, because for the most part they're the ones doing the talking--something that's been long overdue. It's only now that we've started asserting some influence and control (instead of cowering in the closet) that we start hearing complaints from straight people about how "their" words have been stolen.

They were perfectly happy with "faggot" and "bulldyke" when they thought they were the only ones in control. Language is a powerful tool of opression...or liberation. As Humpty-Dumpty said to Alice on the subject: "The question is: which is to be the master".

[Xugumad]

Straight people complaining about homosexuals using words such as queer describing themselves is patently absurd. Once again, The Simpsons parodied it best:

John: Queer?
Homer: Yeah, and that's another thing! I resent you people
using that word. That's our word for making fun of you!
We need it!! Well I'm taking back our word, and I'm
taking back my son!

-- 4F11, Homer's Phobia


That's what I was remembered of when Dhamsaic wrote...

> For the record, I don't appreciate the hijacking of words such
> as queer, gay, fag, etc.

Which was either a very fine use of irony, or a Homerism. What do you have your money on? ;-)


X.

[Nic Name]

It's either a Homerism or he's being facetious, not ironic.

It would be ironic if he were queer and said that.

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by Nic Name
It's either a Homerism or he's being facetious, not ironic.

Well, you guys are going to have to carry the ball on this one--he said in another thread he was putting me on his ignore list. For my money it's a pure homerism on both their parts.

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by dhamsaic
Not really. It's slang, and it does not mean "homosexual" any more than "jewish" means "money squandering".

I don't know any use of "jewish" that ever implied "money squandering". I wonder if dham actually meant some other word than "squander".

[jaguar]

Maggie i think your intentionally misreading what dham is saying, he's complaining about the hijacking of these words from their origional meanings, not from thier bigoted corruptions.

[Nic Name]

Originally posted by dhamsaic
For the record, I don't appreciate the hijacking of words ...

Isn't that an incorrect use of the word appreciate and a hijacking of the word hijacking?

[SteveDallas]

Not to be skeptical or anything, but did this really happen, or was that "screenshot" doctored up? I haven't seen anything about this in the weekend Philadelphia Inquirers or New York Times and, while I might have missed it, and it wouldn't necessarily be front page news, I'm kind of surprised such a gaffe would pass without mention from someone else in the press.

[Nothing But Net]

Oh it happened all right...

[Nic Name]

As I expected, Innis handled the gaffe with good humor.

``Oh, God, I thought you guys thought I was a rapper or something,'' Innis replied. ``Media bias continues. Just kidding. It's not the first time it's happened, but hopefully it's the last.''

[jeni]

...we start hearing complaints from straight people about how "their" words have been stolen...

i am a straight person. i do not think that the word "queer" is my word. or a "straight person word." it's everyone's word, as everyone is free to speak the english language. however it bothers me that when i am around homosexuals, they gawk if i use the word "queer" in its actual context. as if it's horrible of me to say "and how queer is it that john would feel that way, seeing as..." or something of the sort. it's not like i was calling a homosexual a queer to be insulting, or consider myself one of the "insiders." if they want to use the word to describe themselves, that's A-ok with me. however, i have the exact same right to use it the way it was originally intended to be used. and in my opinion, it's really stupid to get pissed off at someone for using a perfectly fine word in the way it was intended to be used.

[jeni]

I don't know any use of "jewish" that ever implied "money squandering".

i do. infact, i know a guy whose own mother told him "you're just like your father, you're such a jew." to imply that she didn't like what he was doing with his money. and i've heard it many times.

[jeni]

That's what I was remembered of when Dhamsaic wrote...

> For the record, I don't appreciate the hijacking of words such
> as queer, gay, fag, etc.

Which was either a very fine use of irony, or a Homerism. What do you have your money on?

maybe he just doesn't like feeling like he can't utter those words around homosexuals. maybe he'd rather just use those words how they're meant to be used.

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by jeni

i do. infact, i know a guy whose own mother told him "you're just like your father, you're such a jew." to imply that she didn't like what he was doing with his money. and i've heard it many times.

The stereotype of jews that *I'm* familiar with is one of parsimony, not squandering (which means to spend lavishly). "He jewed me down." around here means "He drove a tough bargain, demanding my lowest price."

Your friend's mother may not have *liked* what he was doing with his money, but I really doubt that "squandering" was the issue. Were any of the people involved in this story in fact Jewish?